Rise of a Warrior
by eroomally
Summary: Maci Durramee, after serving her years in Prison for crimes she did not truly commit. Maci returns with her former dreams in hopes to rise above the ranks. However this time not so much like in the past. As Maci sets off to be assessed on her capabilities and skills on an information gathering mission. Things go horribly sideways. Third Installment of the Sangheili Story Series.
1. A New Chapter

**Name: Maci Durramee**  
 **Year: 2564 June**  
 **Gender: Female**  
 **Age:26**  
 **Rank: Minor**  
 **Location: Durrame, Sanghelios**

Far from the large cities crowded by civilization where noise is limitless and it's always lively, far out from the large tall buildings and into the country exists a small state with large wide open spaces, golden fields full of life and a place to call home. Its entrance was magnificent with two large sangheili leaning out their hands connecting with one another, a male and a female in noble clothing Of the Durram Ancestors. These large statue figures stood just as tall as any skyscraper; there was a large abundance of civilization, large round buildings, arenas, houses, farming areas with crops and livestock. The fields where like that of a golden oasis flowing gently with the faint breeze, large canine like creatures used as mounts and a form of transport, known as the K'rousm Di'ream, powerful beasts that once inhabited the lost state and now return to become useful assets.

It was far different from the city, it was harmonious, gentle and soothing, and there was peace here, but not always. These very lands had once endured years of war, it had seen much bloodshed and loses and had even been burnt to the ground. Its only survivor a young female warrior.

Out in the fields a group of young sangheili ran around, they were kicking a round ball, passing it between one another, a small K'rousm pup joined in on the fun running around as the younglings giggled kicking up dirt and dust.

"Hey Ka'rus" called out a small young male towards a younger female.

Ka'rus was a young, athletic youngling for her age, she was barley 4 and already top of her class and on top of her training, she had light grey skin with vibrant blue eyes making her stand out from all the others. Softly she giggled and kicked the ball over to her team mate whom caught it before kicking it towards the goal where the opposing team booed a little upset. They had been playing a game that the humans called Soccer or something strange like that, it was meant to be about kicking a ball from one side of the field to the other to win, which all the sangheili children found fun in doing so as they eventually giggled and laughed even some at their own defeat. But this was not real life just a mere game as Ka'rus joined her friends roughly around the same age as her.

"Ka'rus?" a familiar voice called out as the youngling stopped in her tracks and froze turning around slowly.

Her eyes fell upon her father, a large male for his size, pale grey skin, golden eyes and a distinctive scar around his neck as he smiled looking down at his daughter.

"FATHER!" Ka'rus said jumping with joy as she leaped into Zuka's arms.

"It's about time I found you, your Mother is preparing for her leave in the next few days which means.." Zuka said bopping his daughters little snout.

"A FESTIVAL!" Ka'rus yelled into the air with glee and pure delight all over her face.

Dropping the little one to her feet gently Zuka looked down at his daughter, she had the distinctive traits of a Durram, those vibrant blue eyes and smaller body type but she also had Zuka's traits as well, the pale skin was one thing but her pure nature was a mixture of the two as Zuka smiled. When Maci had returned from Prison they had both decided to have a child before she continued on her career path. Hand in hand the two walked towards a hill where a regular sized house stood, it was made out of stone and didn't look like any of those new flashy houses, but rather one that had been restored. Father and Daughter walked into the house only to hear clanging and banging as well as giggles. As the two entered they both stood with their jaws dropped.

"Varus!" Maci called out as the young female warrior herself was dashing around the house with her arms out stretched trying to catch the mischievous baby before her.

Varus was only two years old and he had already started to learn how to run and now jump as Ka'rus and Zuka stood back unsure of what to do exactly. One thing was for sure was that Varus had Zuka's nature, he was stubborn, playful and had a no limit on energy, in a sense he was the wild child, but one thing defined him from his elder sister was his eyes. His right eye was gold but yet his left was blue, his skin wasn't dark like Maci's but wasn't like Zuka's either. The house was a mess already as it was with dishes everywhere while the youngling runs rampant in the house stark naked of course with nothing but underwear on.

"Zuka help!" Maci called as she struggles to catch her breath before Varus leaped into her arms surprising her.

"Hey I thought that's my job when you leave" Zuka joked as he pushed Ka'rus into their home.

Both Maci and Zuka laughed as they embraced each other before Varus interrupted by making a eww sound causing the couple to laugh at their newest family member. It had not been easy on Maci, training, having their first child Ka'rus and then shortly after two years have another child. However one thing was sure that Maci was a very good mother, she had taught Ka'rus to fight and train with a toy blade, she also helped with her school work; Varus on the other hand was totally different, he would be starting his schooling years later throughout this year, but sadly Maci would not be there for them. Everything had been so normal for her, after Maci came out from Prison she had to adjust again, she spent years training to become a Minor, but she bore the mark of shame on her back which was covered up under her top. One thing that remained was Maci's attire, her blue shirt and top had never truly changed and Maci had remained a little bit the same, though wiser, stronger in her mind and of course now a Mother. The lifestyle of being the Leader of her State was different, her people didn't see her as the same however Zuka as the Governor helped as best as he could.

So much had happened in the times that had gone past, the healing, the children, it was a lot. Gently Maci sat Varus down onto the ground before putting on his clothes where as Zuka dashed into the kitchen, at least he still cooked and made decent meals as Maci softly smirked watching her mate get to work. When they had wed it was shortly after she had come out from Prison, Zuka took up her last name since he knew little of his own biological family, it was best that way but was something that wasn't exactly traditional either. Since neither of them had much family it was more of a simple wedding, their friends where there and well Raga as well. Speaking of him the old battle worn Male was living in Durram, he'd taken up the lifestyle of a farmer, he spends most of his times far out near the outskirts helping when he can of course but never truly venturing into the inner sanctum of the state. He still had a lot of blood to wash off his hands.

Sko was also becoming a fine warrior, and though he had not started a life of his own he was certainly taking into account as he was now a Field Marshal, he'd recently come back from a tour and had returned to Durram state, he was a very good warrior and had done most of his time dedicated to protecting Durram, he helped Truun in the tactical and strategy area of things as Truun had also become a well-trained warrior that had excelled far, he had done his own tours, perhaps not as many as Sko but the male that was once a brute had truly put his head to it and was the main enforcer of Durram state, he helped run the security here, they had patrols going in and out which included mounted K'rousm units, banshees and some phantoms, but Durram was a peaceful state out in the country and the K'rousm came in handy more than Banshees or phantoms. Not only where the beasts feared but they made great companions, more than a colo anyway.

The life of the state had gone up and above, Sko being a well-trained Marshal, Truun being a guard and studying to become an Ultra, Duran and his Brother were also helping out as security when they were not off on tours, in fact Duran had started his own family here too much like his Brother whom you would never have believed would ever settle down. As for Voroumee well he had eventually applied to become a council member and had been approved shortly after Maci's release. His time in Durram was very little; he was back and forth serving as an advocate for Maci and her State. Everyone was going so far, even Zuka whom was now the Governor of Durram. Yet Maci was a different story.

Sure she was training and was now a ranked member again, though she never left off the ground, she only served as a part of her security team, she'd become a Mother yes but she had fallen so far behind, she wanted to be more than this, she wanted to raise a family that would be proud of who she is now, not the scar on her back that proves she disobeyed orders. With a faint sigh the female stood up and found herself mindlessly walking into her bedroom as her gaze fell upon her armour rake. Her unique armour over time had become dusty, she cleaned it of course but one thing she never liked using where her energy blades. They had killed enough as it is, and the memories of her actions still daunted her. Nowadays she was restricted to the use of a plasma pistol, Maci didn't mind it, she barley used it when she was patrolling anyway, which of course she used unique patrol armour, her own unique armour had been set aside more as an ornament then anything. Yet that was all about to change as Maci felt a hand on her shoulder as Zuka embraced her from behind.

"You will do good I know you will" He said already know what was plaguing Maci's mind.

"Maybe…Maybe not. I let my heart get in the way before, I fear it could do the same again." Maci said softly in a hushed tone afraid to look at her armour anymore.

It was then Zuka turned her around to face him, he was smiling, that stupid smirk of his that always seemed contagious as Maci smiled back putting a hand to his cheek. He had always been there for her, they had a family together even and he was the only true person that could see straight through her blue eyes and into her soul.

"Do not fear it. Your mentor will take care of you, plus you said it yourself it's just a little trip to gather information. It's all part of the training, it's your final step to making your way up the ranks and I know you Maci, I know you can do this" Zuka said with positive reinforcement as he kissed her gently and held her close to him.

Taking in a long deep breath of Zuka's scent, Maci felt her troubled mind eased as she held him close, her head against his chest listening to his strong heart beats that soothed her soul while telling herself Tomorrow is a new Day.

 **~The Following Day~**

As the sun rose up the State came to life, security where getting prepared to go out on patrol as Maci sat in a darkly lit room adjusting her security armour on, it wasn't slender armour and it did weigh a little more than her regular armour, it was coated in a silver paint with the Durram symbol on her left side that had been imprinted on the armour. Its design was rather similar to Maci's as the security guard unit had armour designed based upon the old Durram armour style, just far more upgraded. In the locker room Maci was alone as she adjusted her side strap on her chest before finally finishing up with a faint sigh as she looked into the metal locker before her, her blue eyes a faint reflection looking back at her.

Today was going to be her last day on shift before she would leave for some strange mission she had no idea about. All Maci knew was that after her years of training to become a Minor again she was placed in a queue order awaiting to be taken on by someone to mentor her to ensure that she is ready to be out in the field. It was also hard to imagine Maci, the noble female of her state and Kaidon working as local security but she didn't mind it and it was in order with being Kaidon, after all she was looking out for her people.

With her plasma pistol locked onto her thigh armour Maci ventured out of the small locker room and headed out through a hallway before stepping out of a door which revealed a large paddock. The others in the security division for this morning's shift where all out here getting ready to mount up and go, a wide range of K'rousm stood around, they had thick yet light armour over them including their face, neck and sides all formed from a light metal. How many nights had Maci dreamed to see her state not only flourish but live as one with these majestic beasts?

With a deep breath in of the fresh Air Maci approached her mount, this large male was fairly young no older than four or five years, he had scars that where old on his lower back legs as the Male quickly noticed Maci taking in her scent and letting out a faint joyful whimper as Maci stroked the creatures head as it panted. This male had been the pup she had saved so many years ago when she reclaimed Durram state, when Maci was released from Prison she found out that the pup had grown into an adult but had taken a liking to Zuka and very shortly Maci.

Quickly Maci started to mount up placing the armour over the male softly whispering to him, she'd named him Ryo for his pure bravery and cunningness, and within a matter of seconds Maci had fully mounted up and was seated in the saddle as she looked around. Everyone else was mounting up by this point too preparing to go; only one or two still remained getting the gear on their mount. Being up here on the back of a K'rousm was a thrill, Maci was higher up and on such a powerful beast it was like being a God almost as Ryo began to slowly move knowing it was time to head out.

From the far corner an officer appeared wearing thick crimson armour and a touch of silver with the unique security officer's armour however this was not just anyone, it was Truun. He'd become head of Security and with his reputation would someday excel to becoming an Ultra. With a deep Breath in Truun gazed around noticing Maci and various other warriors whom he had trained and seen through to their approval. The Mounted unites where unique to Durram, they were not like Banshees or Phantoms, but ground troops and with the tamed K'rousm they were feared warriors on beasts that could sense and smell things a mile away.

"You all know very well of your co-ordinates to where you patrol, if not you shouldn't even be mounted, however Keep your eyes peeled, we may be at a time of peace but our enemies can strike at the most unlikeliest of times. Now Go out there and make Durram Proud!" Truun yelled and with it the warriors cheered before turning around and making way.

However as the gates of the paddock where opened and everyone began to head out Maci heard Truun call her as she looked over her shoulder and noticed him signalling her to him. Ryo didn't like this yet did not protest but to only let out a faint growl as Maci stirred over towards Truun.

"Maci out of Respect take it easy today ok? It's your last patrol and I don't want you to push yourself too much, I know tomorrow is a big day for you but today, relax. Plus don't give me a chance to scold you" Truun said as he joked before signalling her away.

Maci only smiled and nodded gratefully to her friend's advice. It felt odd, she had trained with him at the Academy in Varo, both him and Sko had gone up and above and in reality Maci was a few ranks below them, so to take orders from her own friends of her own age was strange as Maci clicked up Ryo and the two headed out towards their destination.

How life had changed so much for Maci, having children, being a part of the security team and then tonight's big feast and in the next day or two her leave will all be so very surreal for her. Leaving everything behind after so long, after such time in prison and getting back her bearings, Maci had so much more to learn then just fighting.

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 **A/n:** Hey guys, its been a while and I'm guessing a few of you are eager to read this new part of the series. If you dont already know Rise of a Warrior is part of the "Sangheili Story" Series, so I highly suggest you guys catch up or head over and read from start other wise you'll be really confused about who some of the characters are in this. Anyway I'm not sure when the next chapter will be, it might be in the next fortnight but we shall see for now enjoy. Let me know how you guys like it. Its really just a real quick look over whats happened to Maci.


	2. A Long Journey

**A/n:** Before I get this chapter started with I just wanted to say a HUGE thank you to all the reviews and follows and fav's even though only two chapters in. You are the people that make this story/series worth writing :3 Enjoy the new Chapter.

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 **Name: Maci Durramee  
Year: 2564 June  
Gender: Female  
Age:26  
Rank: Minor  
Location: Durram-Vadam, Sanghelios**

Over the course of a week Durram held various festivals, feasts alongside ceremonies, awards for their new warriors embarking out in the real world after finishing their training. It was a time of joy, a time that was meant to bring hope and happiness, yet in the dead of the night, the night before Maci's departure. The young female Sangheili found herself unable to sleep. Zuka was out helping the nearby farmers with some technical problems. The younglings where both sound asleep but Maci…She stood at her door way looking over at her armour. The blue hues, the vibrant glow it once had the damage marks it still held.

With a heavy hearted sighed Maci could not see herself in that armour, she knew that what had happened in her past, what happened to Team Delta, the betrayal she suffered and the long term effects of her actions still hang above her head, every hour of every waking moment, every nightmare she has is consumed by that hate, the guilt, the frustration, the desire to go back and un do all her wrongs. Yet Maci knew that no matter how hard she told herself, she would never let it go, she couldn't because deep in her heart Maci felt that she would never achieve redemption. That's what this whole mission was about, redemption.

For Maci, Under Sangheili law was unable to go above any ranks then her previous one before committing the crimes she did. It was law, and she had to be assessed by someone with much more experience before she could even try to become that of a higher rank. It was the fear of remaking those mistakes which made Maci unsure if she was worthy of wearing her armour again, she didn't trust herself, not like she once had because now she understood what she was capable of doing, she understood the harsh world. It's not just about fighting to be a female warrior, it's not about gender, it's about life and death, it's about protecting those close to you and Maci had been blinded by her own foolish ideas of making a name for herself.

Even though Maci knew it was getting late, she didn't feel the desire to rest as she sat upon her bed. She had dusted her armour off, cleaned it, done repairs to it as she slowly lay down onto the cold bed. Zuka would be home soon enough but Maci's mind was else were as she lay with her eyes wide open. Her mind was possessed by the events of her past as they replayed over and over again her own mistakes, the cave in, the loss of team delta, the loss of good friends, watching your own superior die and you be the one to end his life, watching people around you die and the sense of hopelessness overwhelming you. With a deep breath in Maci tried to close her eyes, the darkness was not comfort for her. She'd been plagued by nightmares since the events of Durrams destruction, and ever since then she had never been the same and perhaps never will.

Even in Prison, the nights where long and lonely, she had to restrain herself a lot from lashing out, because in there you lose who you once where. There is no pride, no bloodline, nothing, not even rank can help you in that place. It's one for all and nothing more. Even in such dark places there is only a faint glimmer of hope, and that was the very hope that Maci was holding onto at that very moment. She feared making the same mistakes again, going back to that horrible place with no friends, no life, nothing. She wanted to prove a point but her own foolishness and pride blinded her in the making of it, and now…Maci had learned a lot more in just a few short years. With another heavy sigh, she tried to relax her mind, tried to forget, but sometimes you just can't do that as Maci slowly drifted into a deep dark sleep.

 **~Following Morning~**

As the sun arose Maci had awoken next to Zuka whom had curled up alongside of her. That was an hour ago when she had woken up as she now stood facing her old Durram armour. She'd cleaned it as best as she could, it had been given a new coat of spray paint to it, making the darker navy colours a little less and the blue a lot more dominant. This was meant to be a new her, a new Maci as she looked up and down at the armour, her past still troubling her mind. She knew that when she agreed to be put in queue that it would take a very long time, she knew that it would also take a lot of time to forget what had happened in her past, but it felt like as if her past was yesterday. It was too soon as Maci tried to calm her nerves. She was already dressed in her skin suit, she just had to get into her armour…the armour that she wore when her friends died, the armour she wore that killed Jagoree…It held a lot of memories that Maci could not withstand.

Zuka and their children had already gone out for the day and headed towards the shuttle station just near the states entrance. Maci knew they wanted to send her on her way in a big celebration with most of the citizens gathered to cheer her on her way, but Maci was afraid, afraid she would leave here with hope and come back bloodstained. With a lot of doubt, fear and confusion Maci finally got the courage to put on her armour knowing that she could not back out of this, she had to go to Vadam state, she had to do this and she knew she had to otherwise who knows maybe her whole state might be put at risk for her own foolish behaviour. After clipping on her armour chest plate, her legs and finally vembraces Maci hesitantly opened the draw on the other side.

It was a fine wooden dressing table that had various decorations, from steel swords used by Maci's Ancestors to small little symbols. Each draw held something different in it. Some clothing, others more decorations, but there was one that was closest to the armour that held the very things Maci feared the most. Her Dual swords. They had once been a symbol of hope, pride and a youthful and naïve Maci, but now…now they held bloodstained memories that Maci can never be rid of. Slowly she opened the draw and hesitantly clipped on the dual blades while whispering softly to herself that she may never need to use them. She hated them, she regretted her choice, but she has trained in them, trained in the way of the sword and it was even proven by her terrible aim with a plasma pistol when Maci became a security guard here in Durram.

She'd lost a lot of her skills and now she knew she had to redeem herself, she had to gain back what she had once had, and sadly she knew deep down in the pit of her heart that it may just very well cost her something dear to her. With a deep breath in Maci took one final look around the room, it was empty but even so full of the good memories, her children, her mate, their scents, the celebrations, the laughter and fun and yet her stood Maci wearing something that drained all of that away.

She had no choice as she reminded herself closing her eyes tightly while saying a silent pray. She'd wasted enough time as the young female looked up and around once more, holding on dearly to those very memories of love and joy, but even so reality is a cruel thing as Maci made her way through her household, down the hallway and out the door. It was a nice bright sunny day, the heat was beating down, not even a single breeze past by as Maci shielded her eyes at first before she slowly lowered them down. She felt nervous, she felt anxious but she also was confused. With a sigh Maci looked over to Ryo, the large K'rousm, whom bounced over to her panting and rubbing his head with affection against Maci. This made her laugh; it made her forget for a brief moment until she knew that she was here to leave.

"Come now Ryo, I must leave, Zuka while look after you" She said mindlessly to the creature before her that only licked her hands so oblivious of her current state. Or perhaps the creature wasn't, maybe he was just trying to cheer her up.

Either way Maci didn't waste any time as she mounted up and before long was making her way down the pathway towards the nearest Shuttle station. Today was awfully quiet though as Maci and Ryo made their way through the towns passing only a few sangheili along the way, not even the children seemed to be out playing the fields and it only made Maci emptier on the inside. Though she had Ryo as she reminded herself looking down at the steady, noble and wise creature as he walked at a nice pace, not too fast and not too slow. It was rather calming to be honest, to be up on such a majestic creatures back as Maci looked over towards the station that was slowly growing and growing and within a few minutes of day dreaming they had arrived.

With a final sigh Maci dismounted giving Ryo one final last goodbye with a kiss and a rub of his forelock before she made her way into the grand building. The station was a large oval building, it didn't have a ceiling as banshees and phantoms came in dropping off shipments or leaving. In fact it was about 20 football sizes of a human stadium as Maci looked up and around. It was rather busy here unlike outside. Everyone started to cheer and making way for Maci as she stood rather stunned. Zuka and their children stood at one particular station waving towards her, Ka'rus was standing near Zuka jumping up and down while both her hands where waving in the air while Varus was seated upon his Fathers large shoulders waving with one hand while the other hand was wrapped around Zuka's neck.

Before Maci could even make a final step forward as her face lit up someone from behind her came up, she could hear the distinct sound of armour, in fact two as she turned around and saw Truun. He stood tall and mighty like any male would, he had this big goofy smile on his face as he stepped aside gesturing to someone behind him. Maci had to squint her eyes to see who exactly it was; the crowed seemed to die down a bit as Maci watched Raga approach. He was dressed in old ceremonial armour, it was silver and had a nice clean polish look to it, a few battle marks could be seen. In fact it was an almost spitting image of Maci's armour, though clearly a lot more rough looking and heavier with thicker shoulder armour much like an Ultras, his helmet was much like the Durram Guards, he had bicep armour that trailed down to his vembraces similar to the arbiters.

For someone whom was a traitor to Durram and its people, Raga had certainly put in effort. In fact Maci had barley seen her uncle since she had come out of prison. She'd only heard a few rumours of him becoming a farmer near the states outskirts and yet here he stood and in one hand he presented a thick dark navy fabric as he approached but stopped only a few feet away from Maci. She was stunned, surprised and amazed as she looked him up and down before a smile came over her Face and despite having armour she jumped forward and hugged him. She knew she shouldn't have, he was the one that had caused so many problems for Maci. In fact he was the very reason she had become the way she was, but he had also saved her, he protected her and had come to understand his own mistakes and in doing so Maci forgave him. But not everyone is Maci.

"It is good to see you Uncle" Maci said as she let him go and took a step back, a big smile on her face as her blue eyes glowed with a new hope.

"Indeed it is. I apologize for my…intrutio-" Before he could say any more Maci cut him off.

"No do not mind it at all. All that matters is that you are here now" Maci said with glee.

Oddly enough this earned her a bow from Raga before he looked at the fabric in his right arm before he lowered his head once more and out stretched his hands towards her presenting her the fabric.

"This was the cape your Father had worn many times before he left. Although he was an Ultra, he is still your Father and you too should go in such honour and pride like he once did." Raga said in a calm yet sorrowful tone of voice.

To this odd gesture Maci slowly extended her hand out and took the fabric, she remembered the various times she saw her father leave, it was true he left in honour and pride, the people of Durram back then cheered for his safety and return to once more protect them, they believed in him, they trusted him. In the end her Father and Mother became the glowing hope of Durram and that is why Maci had ordered that the two statues of Durrams entrance be that of her Mother and Father. With a deep breath in Maci took the fabric into her arms and held it closely before Truun came along and helped to clip it onto her plate. She looked a lot more important, she looked like a Kaidon that everyone expected her to turn out to be. Before she could say a single thing Maci looked at her Uncle and smiled towards him bowing back which caught him off by surprise.

"I'm honour to have you as my Uncle and I pray that I may return to see your Face and my families Face upon victory" Maci said and with that she turned around to hear a new applause.

With the fine silk like material of the cape now draped behind her, Maci seemed far more important, she felt more important and a new sense of pride washed over her, she felt like for the first time she was going to leave and come back as their Kaidon for once and for all. With a deep breath in she held her head high and looked around with pure glee upon her face as she took her first few steps forward, the crowed had already parted way for her as they shouted out her name and titles. Various Children jumped around, families cuddled together waving at her. It was all so very empowering as Maci felt like the walk to her own family felt far longer than it was but once she had walked up those steel steps towards the phantom where her Family stood, she felt like she was standing high like a skyscraper.

Ka'rus leaped into her arms followed by Varus as the two seemingly tried to crash tackle their Mother while Zuka stood by with a gleeful smile on his face. Closing her eyes, Maci enjoyed the embrace from her children and hugged them tightly before letting them go. Looking up at Zuka Maci felt like she had just seen him for the first time as she fell into his arms and gave him his final embrace. She didn't wish to let him go, nor did he, but unfortunately Maci could hear the Pilot of the Phantom call to her and she knew it was time to leave. Taking one last look at her children she smiled.

"Ka'rus take care of your little Brother, and Varus try hard not to give your Father too much trouble" Maci said before crouching down and kissing them both on their foreheads.

In both of her hearts she felt ready, but in her stomach she was nervous to take that step onto the phantom. The hope and joy that surrounded her made her feel like she was on top of the world as she gave her final wave to her people before she left entering the dark phantom, the doors slid up behind her, the sound of the engine rumbled as Maci took her set finding it oddly strange with the cape draped over her back, but she knew she would have to remove it as she unclipped the fabric from her back. It wouldn't be a good way to impress whomever was going to mentor her, but Maci would put it in her locker up in Vadam as she felt the phantom rise and lift off. This was it, the moment she had been waiting for as she peered out the window to see the crowd still waving and cheering, Zuka, Varus and Ka'rus where all huddled together waving in sync and it brought a tear to her eyes to see them so happy and yet she herself wasn't sure if she should be happy, she still doubted herself but none the less she knew she had to do this, there is no going back.

 **~An Hour Later~**

After an hour or so later, the travel in the phantom came to a stop in the heart of the Vadam. As the phantom came down and the doors opened Maci unbuckled herself and mindlessly gave a nod to the pilot whom wasn't paying much attention. Walking out onto the platform Maci could see just how much Vadam had changed. The platform was long and outstretched from the actual building that was extremely high but Maci's mind was stopped from seeing all the purple buildings of vibrant colours and vehicles passing by when she saw a very large, lean and superior looking Sangheili.

This male had his hands folded behind his back, his chest puffed out, he wore old and battle worn armour that was similar to a field marshals but with distinctive purple and red colours instead of the typical gold or white. Maci could feel and hear the phantom lift off the ground behind her by the sensation of the wind blowing against her legs mainly and the rumbling before it all just seemed o fade away. This male was glaring down at Maci, he was at least a foot or two taller than she was, his eyes a vibrant amber with the dominate look of orange circling around his iris.

Taking her first few steps forward Maci stood rather awkwardly looking up at him, she didn't know his name, she hadn't been told anything about who was taking her on but she defiantly knew that right now it wasn't going to be easy. For a second his gaze flicked down to the cape that Maci was holding in her right hand and then back towards her eyes as if he was assessing her on the spot.

"I am Voras Ru'tramee, I will be your mentor. You will address me as Voras nothing else nothing less. You are Maci Durramee, Durrams First female Kaidon, survived the Destruction of Durram, graded at the Great Trails with excellent marks for a Female and then on her first proper mission off planet you disobey orders, placed in Prison for two years and then released. So for Four years you have done what? Raise a Family? Perhaps you should have reconsidered your so called hopes and dreams." The male was strong, honest and upfront, his appearance didn't change a single bit as he spoke of her records.

Just like that he spun on his feet and began to make way towards the large building known as Vadam's Central Station. It was a place for all forms of transport to arrive at, public, storage and weapons, though each level had its own reasons and specialities. The one Maci had landed on was for Military and it had a very different vibe to it. As Maci followed Voras she couldn't help but feel afraid as they walked into the main body of the building. It was a large dome like appearance with various other door ways that led out towards other platforms.

Guards walked around checking luggage or cargo that was dropped off, some stood against the door ways watching with caution. When Maci entered she felt almost everyone's eyes fall upon her, the vibrant glow from her armour yet again made her more noticeable and she questioned if by chance they would know who she is and what she was doing here. However walking down a small set of steps Maci followed Voras towards the centre where a large circular platform was with a terminal. As Maci walked onto the platform she felt a little safer until the surface began to sink and they were engulfed by a vibrant blue ray of light that brought the platform down towards another level.

All this time Voras did not say a single word, in fact his whole appearance and attitude remained the same, cold, sharp much like any warrior from many years of battle would have. Maci knew she would be with a veteran but she questioned how many years of war had this male seen. It wasn't up to her to ask anyway as the platform stopped and they walked out onto this new level. It was larger, had a lot more people and cargo being moved about, it was mixture of public civilians and also military. Guards stood at each door way, all stoic looking and silent with their back raised up and chest puffed out.

Maci took notice to this because it's not the sangheili way to be slouched over all the time. In fact it was something they only do in combat which meant that the guards standing tall without an arch in their backs meant it was safe, there was no threat. Following Voras through the crowed though was another story. Maci bumped into others and had to almost jog to keep up, meanwhile almost everyone that got into Voras path seemed to quickly step out of his way. In all honesty Maci didn't know where they were going but she followed through the large crowed until they took a sharp turn down a corridor and then another until they reached a large dark room which Voras had to unlock from the outside.

"This will be where you store your belongings that you will not need. That includes the cape." Voras said with a snort at the end of his words before he took a deep breath in and walked away closing the door behind him.

Quietly scoffing at herself Maci found a vacant locker and neatly folded her cape up and placed it inside. She then made a quick check over herself. She had brought her personal data pad with her and for a moment she hesitated to put it away, an image of Ka'rus, Varous and Zuka and Maci sitting all together came up. It was a late afternoon in the shot as Maci smiled remembering that day but she closed the data pad and put it away trying to refocus on what she is doing. She had to put on her soldier face, a stoic appearance as she closed the locker door and pressed her finger against the button before a small display hologram popped up which scanned Maci's eye for ID. Once it was all over and done with Maci walked away leaving behind the very things that held her pride and held her together.

Knowing in her heart this was not going to be easy, the female Sangheili walked out of the room and stood looking up at Voras. He didn't seem pleased and he didn't seem disappointed, he just seemed emotionless and without any words or signals he walked off and once more Maci followed him. They went up the lift again and came to another new level; they walked out onto one of the large stretched out platform where a phantom stood waiting for them. About two meters away Voras turned and looked at Maci, it was a look where you hold your head up but gaze down with your eyes as if Maci was less and its true she was less then him, he had seen war, she had been the cause of problems it made sense.

"This is a simple mission. We go out half way across Sanghelios, a full day trip in the phantom. Once we reach our drop off point we source out information in regards to a rebellion group of what seems to be a mixture of species. After we locate them and gather what exact species we get back to our drop off point and we come back here with the information. You will do what I say and if you do not I will see you never grade again, understood?" His words where stern and fairly firm as he spoke them.

All Maci could do was nod, he seemed to know a lot and either way Maci knew she had to do what she was told this time around. No following her instincts. Just like that Voras turned on his feet and entered the phantom while Maci slowly followed behind earning a glare once she had entered the phantom. It would be a long trip she knew that, and she knew she would have to be stuck in this phantom for that entire time with pure silence and being glared at. Taking her seat Maci buckled up while Voras signalled the pilot to close the door and begin the long trip.

With a deep breath in Maci looked out the window nearest to her to get the slightest look of the civilization she was leaving behind. The Sun was starting to reach the middle of the sky, the buildings shined brightly, vehicles passing by seemed like little glitters floating about as Maci took one final deep breath and silently made a pray to herself that she would do just fine, that she would do everything perfectly and come out on top as a new warrior.


	3. More then Meets the Eye

**A/n:** A quick note before I get on with this chapter, I know I've been a bit slack with uploading my chapters, I've been uploading them at least once a fortnight but I think I might pick up the pace a bit more and start to upload them at least once a week if I can get the chance. For now enjoy as this chapter sets out a few things and yes I know a few brows will be raised but I assure you all will be explained :D

* * *

 **Name: Maci Durramee  
Year: 2564 June  
Gender: Female  
Age:26  
Rank: Minor  
Location: Unknown Warzone, Sanghelios**

 **More then Meets the Eye**

As the hours passed by Maci sat closest to the window watching the day fade and turn to night and then watching the sunrise through the small window hole. Everything seemed to pass slowly but at the same time Maci enjoyed the trip so far. It was indeed silent and she ignored Voras, in fact he seemed a hell of a lot like some other Males she'd dealt with but Voras was rather on point, he seemed to like being the one to know everything. At their current rate they would soon be entering this warzone which was an hour or so away. Maci turned around and looked at Voras, he sat silently looking like he was meditating, and that is if you could meditate with your eyes open.

His hands where on his knees, his posture was that of someone of nobility, yet his gaze was fixed on Maci as if he was afraid to look away. She didn't blame him but it did make her question whether or not he had been sitting there for the past 23 hours just watching her. Of course they didn't have any stops and Maci could feel her hunger slowly grow, she could only assume they would grab some form of protein that would help them survive through however long it would take them to gather this information. Yet the silence and curiosity was killing Maci as she pipped up.

"Before you took up being a Mentor. What where you before?" Maci asked rather curiously.

"I do not remember saying you were allowed to speak during our flight." Was Voras comment as he glared at her.

Maci felt like rolling her eyes but she didn't she just seemed to shrug his comment off and went back to looking out at the landscape. She could see the land wasn't the nicest, it was a lot of open space like woods and such, but Maci could make out in the distance a darkness that was growing, large mountains and what looked like rocky ground as Maci hummed to herself.

"I was once a part of the Special unit of the Stealth Force. I took part in various missions including Ossoona missions. Does that answer your question?" Voras bluntly responds as Maci turns to look at him a little surprised.

His hard expression seemed a little less now than before but still he didn't have the appearance that he had dropped his guard as Maci nodded out of respect. She didn't have anything to say back as she leaned back and looked out the window.

"It was said you too had taken part of a temporary Ossoonas mission correct?" Voras seemed to probe but Maci did not look at him.

"Yes that is correct" Maci said rather coldly as memories flicked in her head of what had happened so many years ago.

"Tell me how does a Minor become an Ossoonas after betraying their supreme commander?" Voras continued to question and Maci was almost tempted to answer back.

However she only paused, she knew that the public did not know about what had truly happened out there so many years ago. All that was known was that their mission was compromised as Maci aided Jagoree in her acts to destroy sangheili civilization. Yet that wasn't the truth, Maci knew that, she never aided Jagoree, not truly. There was a mistake, there was a cave in, and Maci became the distraction that Jagoree had needed to get away with her experiments and tests.

"I'm not quite sure" Maci said back emotionless.

In the distance she could hear a faint chuckle sound but Maci did not look over to Voras to see why, or what expression he had. All Maci could think of what she had done, how it had ended up for her. Sometimes being the hero isn't all it's cut out to be as Maci took in a deep breath. Heck even the Arbiter knew that very well, he had sacrificed his own title, his nobility as the Arbiter and fought against the Covenant. Maci could never do something like that but she felt in a sense that she understood how he might have felt.

Then Maci sat up alert as she watched them enter a barren land. Her eyes fell upon the crusted ground; it looked like this part of the area had been melted, but to be correct the word was glassed as Maci looked in pure horror. It was such a large vast amount of an area that had been glassed before it turned to rumble and old torn buildings. Maci wanted to question what was going on, how this had happened without the public knowing about it but she didn't dare. While she watched the burnt and scorched fields of what could have been a town, maybe a city, Maci wondered just how the heck this had happened.

"What kind of technology did this? It's not large enough for a ship right?" Maci said out loud not fully realizing until it was too late as she slowly turned to look at Voras.

"Classified!" The male said with a dark look upon his face.

Maci slowly turned back around and shuddered a bit trying to focus on something else, anything else, but this barren waste land was starting to get to her, the darken sky even more so and as time passed Maci had more and more questions. What kind of machine could have caused so much chaos, where did all the people go, why wasn't it ever reported or shown on any vids or holograms in the news feeds? With a heavy hearted sigh Maci looked on rather disappointed and blinked mindlessly away, but her questions only built up over time until they eventually entered what first appeared to be a rocky area.

"This is our stop" Voras said as he unbuckled and prepared to jump down the small circular hole that had now unsealed.

Maci got up and made sure she was ready as she watched Voras slowly drift down before Maci entered the lift. It was odd to drop down, no ground or anything to support you, just the gravity beams pulling you down or up depending upon your momentum. It had been too long as Maci felt her feet hit the ground. Durram did not have these sorts of lifts, only the phantoms, in fact Durram was almost primitive in a sense, it had technology but nothing like the cities.

Within seconds the Phantom drifted off and Maci stood and looked around. The ground was unsteady and that was when Maci realized that it wasn't just some rocky platform, but rubble. They were standing on what must have been a former city as Maci looked around. The Sky was darker here, almost like that of the afternoon, but no sunlight came through. It would have been mid-day but it didn't feel like it. Voras mindlessly started to check his radio waves and armour and weapons whereas Maci stood awestruck in this hellhole, this forsaken place. Gulping down she looked over towards Voras but the Male had already guessed her question.

"Destroyed within a year. The civil war had done much damage when the Brutes attacked. After that it fell into further chaos, everyone wanted to rule but nobody was right for it. Sangheili nobles killing one another just to be the ruler and by the time someone did take that responsibility, this place had turned to ash and dust. The Air polluted to a degree, hence the dark clouds." Voras said in a mindless way as if he was a record machine designed for giving historic information.

"What about the lands we came through? They looked glassed, was that too from the civil war?" Maci said trying to second guess everything.

"No, that is from this year. It's a long story short. This place without a real ruler and focused on power and greed destroyed its self and anyone that once lived here is now dead, turned to ash and dust upon the very path we walk upon" Voras said as he turned his back to Maci and looked out over head.

Everything was rocky, like a junk yard you couldn't see flat surface, jagged parts of the land had rocketed upwards like a miniature mountain. Cables lay all over the place, various stones, metal and clothing material could be seen. It was truly a very unpleasant place as Maci gulped down. Voras seemed too interested in going forward, he didn't brief Maci on much and that's when she felt the need to speak up.

"Say what exactly are we doing here again?" Maci said with a curious tone.

This in turn earned her a dark look from Voras as he turned on his heels and spun around to look her in the face, he even hunched over so their eyes where almost lined up. He did not seemed pleased as Maci felt herself shrinking back into her own shadow trying hard to figure out what she had done wrong this time while nervously, under the males gaze, fidgeted with her thumbs behind her back.

"You speak when being spoken to. That is how this works. And I believe I briefed you already. We are here to collect information nothing else." Voras said with a stern and sharp tone before he spun back around and continued to walk as if nothing had happened.

When his back was finally to Maci she let out a breath that she had been holding in and relaxed a little, though she felt a bit off with the whole briefing. She knew their journey had been long, she knew that Voras had mentioned what they were doing but she had forgotten and Maci felt rather stupid and humiliated to a point as she followed a metre behind Voras. They went on like this for a while as they walked about mindlessly, though Voras would stop from time to time, looking up and around before continuing. He never spoke a word, not a single thing and Maci got the impression he just wanted this to be over and done with.

However Maci on the other hand decided she would just shadow him, so she followed him, watched how he acted, so important looking and stern. The Colour of his skin did not help either as it was an even darker shade then Maci's with a hue of brown. It really brought out his eyes though and in this dark environment Maci didn't have much else to do. She didn't know what they were looking for exactly and after a while of walking and pacing what felt like the same pile of junk, they eventually stopped.

"Take a short break for now. I will scout the area on my own." Voras said and quickly left.

Rolling her eyes the young female warrior leaned against the nearest pile of junk which happened to be an old stone, perhaps a former statue piece. Her mind went to her thoughts of why she is here and what she is doing exactly. Its true Voras had told her a brief amount of information in regards to the mission but she felt like she needed to know more, the environment, the tense atmosphere and the overall paranoia of something about to go wrong lingered in the air all told Maci to be mindful. So she made sure her back was facing only towards the pile of junk while she scanned the area. It wasn't much of an important role, Maci was just a shadow and it half reminded her of the time with Duran and Truun, it did seem that it was a similar role, perhaps a bit more deadlier, but either way Maci was still nothing more than a shadow as she sighed to herself. At least in the end it would be worth it as was all she could continuously say over and over hoping that just somehow things are over and done with and Maci will finally be able to move up the rank.

About another ten or so minutes Voras returned with a simple gesture for Maci to follow, they walked in silence, Maci never asked him where he went or anything else, Voras didn't even question Maci or glare at her as he seemed more occupied at scanning the area while Maci was far more interested in knowing what happened. All she could do was go off by the strange rubble of dirt, junk and more junk knowing that once upon a time it was inhabited by families and friends. This made Maci slightly sick in the gut, a faint reminder of what happened to her own state, though this place was a city, it had been through the civil war and now was going through another war.

Since the Arbiter had united the Covenant alliance with the UNSC and humans, things had taken a strange turn of events. Civil wars broke out all over Sanghelios about this, so many didn't want the Arbiter to rule anymore, many believed that the title should go to someone else, someone younger and probably naïve as Maci inwardly mocked. However the case remained that everyone was starting to fight everyone, even in Durram at times there had been minor fights over the current leadership of Sanghelios, but all Maci could do in the end was hold a meeting, discuss with each side the ongoing issue before trying to find a diplomatic solution to the problem. It wasn't exactly easy, but somehow Maci had brought up a young, unique state with the help of Zuka and her friends.

Eventually Voras came to a stop, they had reached a particular point where there was large clearing, and more glassed looking landscape before the building areas continued onwards. However it gave the two enough of an opening to crouch down and see. They were already high up, almost like on a cliff edge as Voras gestured for Maci to crouch. She didn't have anything special in her helmet, so she watched and waited looking for anything and then a faint glimmer caught her attention. It was all the way out and was a mere reflection at first glance, but upon a second glance Maci noticed how it moved.

Naturally the female sangheili instinct would have been to point out the obvious but Voras was well aware as he sat in silence and watched. It must have gone on for at least five minutes before the reflector disappeared. Another five more minutes later and they were still sitting in silence. Maci was rather itchy to get on with the process but she knew she had to be patient; she had to watch and wait as she took in a deep breath. All the way across the glassed landscape something moved which made both Voras and Maci sit up right squinting to get a better look. Then it moved again, a strange vehicle of sorts that seemed to camouflage in with the dark glasses landscape, it had a grey blotchy appearance but it had wheels as Maci looked on somewhat concerned.

Of course Sangheili vehicles where designed to hover, they didn't use anything circular to help move or rotate their vehicles, that was something the humans did which made Maci question even more what the hell was going on here. All the way on the other side what they were seeing was a large industrial truck, it had six wheels, was a bulky militia build and seemed to have cargo on with the way it was moving, its canopy top was covered over with a dirty like looking material as it seemed to slowly and carefully crawl forward. Maci had never seen anything like this; she was just glade they were on the other side of this while Voras had pulled out a data pad and started to capture the footage. He was humming something to himself under his breath which Maci couldn't quiet catch, it took all of her strength to remain still and patient while she watched the vehicle move slowly.

Maci wanted to leave, she didn't' feel comfortable without knowing what was going on, she figured they had already seen enough, this strange human looking vehicle was enough for Maci, not that she didn't like humans but the less information she had the more warry she was becoming. It took all of her own strength to hold herself together, Voras never seemed to mind as he just observed the vehicle which was still crawling. The destination of such an alien machine wasn't quite clear and even if they did watch and wait it would probably be well into the night before anything would be clear to them. Maci knew this was a 24 hour mission, gather information then head back it was as simple as that. Yet at the same time nerve-racking.

All the young female sangheili wanted was for everything to go faster, but then she stopped and paused herself in her thoughts running all over the place. All this time Maci had been begging for this to all be over because she was afraid of something going wrong, so she took in a long deep breath and closed her eyes to meditate for a brief moment to relax and maybe find some sort of solution to this problem she was currently having. Despite the strange eerie sounds of this desolate place, Maci found her inner self, she knew she had become impatient ever since she had come out of prison, she had lost being the patient and kind caring female she once was, and now she had become someone more emotionless, reckless and just wanting to get things over and done with.

As the time had passed Voras eventually turned to look at Maci curious as to what she as doing and why the heck she was being so quiet. When he noticed she was meditating he left her be, she was after all just a shadow following him around. He'd never been a great teacher, his best method was to toss them out into a situation, led them blindly to see who they truly are. So far Voras could tell that Maci was somewhat like himself, she wanted to know everything even if she got into trouble for it. She was young still, curious and above all she was a female. Voras wasn't sure who exactly had let her get into her current position, not many females managed to become warriors but with everything that has been going on, in the past three years female warriors became more popular, it was a new trend maybe; a lot of females went off world to help with civilian problems on other planets. Maybe it was the UNSC infecting their minds but Voras wasn't entirely sure as to how to take this whole situation.

What counted in the end was if Maci was willing to lay down her life for the mission, so far things where perfectly fine, it was meant to be simple and she as following his orders after being told what for of course. At least Voras didn't have to yell at her all the time like most others, yet based upon her history that he analysed, she was a prime warrior that had been at the peak of her age and after her first mission off world, she came tumbling back down. Voras didn't know why or what had happened, he speculated of course, he was the informational type, wanting to know everything before taking any sort of action, it's why he was such a good Operative in the Stealth Division. Yet he wasn't the best of the best, he was just someone else, a warrior gathering information to pass it onto the hero's that would win. Once upon a time Voras wasn't like this, he too had been young and willing to fight, he earned his titles fast, made a living by traveling and fighting on the frontlines, never caring to settle down but always passing along his genes as was the Sangheili way.

When the war ended between the Humans and Covenant, Voras decided that he was no longer proud to be a warrior serving the covenant, like many others he too doubted the future that was to come with the Arbiter as their leader, but a loyal soldier does not stray from their Leader, and Voras didn't wish to do so, he had seen what had happened to those that had, it only brought pain and grief to the living as well as a pile of bodies to be burnt. Voras had lost his whole entire family over such a minor argument that had escalated one day. Being out here, alone and by himself there was peace, there was a time for him to think, to focus. It helped with who he had now become, with age he wasn't as agile, he couldn't doge bullets like he used to, but he wasn't entirely useless. It just meant that he was more suited to the simple and easy jobs. Of course it didn't seem like it, the title of someone in the special stealth force was that of life risking, but Voras was use to the fighting that it had grown on him, he was too use to it and in the end he has become bored.

Taking on young warriors was his only other option for some sort of a break, a change, but even so it only aggravated him in the end, Maci would be no less, she too would break, but when Voras looked at her there was something strange, something he didn't not understand, she was both rebellious yet loyal, an odd mixture that would end her up in even bigger trouble someday as Voras sighed softly. Yet she had proven so far to take orders well enough, that was perhaps the best of her traits that he could tell, yet he would figure out just how good she can be once the night falls.

After sometime and thinking, Maci had quietened her inner self, she felt more relaxed, more at ease as she opened her eyes only to notice the great change in the darkened sky. Maci hadn't been meditating for too long but even she could see that night was soon to fall upon them as she looked at Voras whom was still in his position watching the human vehicle that was still moving slowly. Instead of questioning or pondering more about the situation, Maci decided to scan around the area in hopes to see something else. Clearly she was not going to get any more information out of Voras, she didn't think it was wise either to ask or even say anything from now on, she had already done her fair share and she didn't want to go back to prison either nor be stuck at the rank of a Minor for ever. That wasn't what Maci wanted for her children to look up to, she was meant to be the Kaidon of Durram, and a Kaidon is always someone with a high rank, a noble with fine blood linage that had seen various battles and gone through hell and back.

Yet Maci had only made her one big mistake of trusting someone that was corrupted on power. Once more she reminded herself that no one will ever know the truth of what happened and anyone that had been on that mission had either left the Militia lifestyle behind of died in action. Maybe that was what Maci should have done, gone back home and forgotten about trying her hardest to be something she is not, but even thinking that Maci felt uncomfortable. I was in her blood to fight, she knew her ancestors where once great warriors of the Stealth force division, they had helped many times during the various wars before the San shy'uum decided to execute them all, leaving but one sole survivor to carry on the name.

With a deep breath in Maci refocused, it was getting dark and soon their vehicle would look nothing more than another black mess on the ground, I would blend in too easily and perhaps that's what was meant to happen, it seemed like a big waste of time to be honest but maybe e there was more than meets the eye.


	4. Wrong Move

**Name: Maci Durramee  
Year: 2564 June  
Gender: Female  
Age:26  
Rank: Minor  
Location: Unknown Warzone, Sanghelios**

 **Wrong Move.**

As the afternoon began to fade away with any source of light beyond the horizon and the darkness took over both Voras and Maci began to head down the cliff of rubble under the cover of night. Maci had turned down her energy lights on her armour to ensure that success without Voras even asking much of her, but their biggest problem was going to be crossing this vast landscape of glassed area. It was well known that these things where prone to cracking, much like Ice, but it wasn't exactly sure, perhaps it depended upon how strong the glass beam had been and how long it had burnt into the ground. Either way each step they both took with caution as the sound of their alien vehicle seemed to pick up in the distance. Once again Maci knew that there must have been a reason for the signalling earlier as well as the reason for wasting so much time crawling during the day before eventually picking up speed.

Hopping over one area and then dashing over some more spots, Maci made it her primary goal to keep up with Voras, he was a taller Male and therefore his leg movement would be bigger, though to a surprise Voras wasn't in any sort of rush as Maci found herself being able to take her own time, relax like she had told herself earlier. There wasn't any rush, was what she repeated in her head now and since they were on the move Maci wasn't too bored, she was more alive of the night then beforehand as she found that her mind being focused had also drawn away the hunger in her stomach too. Not just that but her skinsuit also should have held in a way with that.

"May I ask a question" Maci said breaking the long outstanding silence between them.

"You may as well" Voras said in a dull tone not minding exactly what the female had to say really.

"If you were carrying cargo why would you drive slow of a daytime and then pick up speed of a night time? And not just for the cover of the dark." Maci said pondering as to what exactly was going on.

Voras never stopped in his movements, but she had made a good point which made him nod inwardly at himself. Perhaps Maci would make a good warrior once more and redeem himself, after all it made perfect sense now why she had come here and been placed under his wing, he knew only a little of what happened but once more he knew she was hiding something, something that even Maci wasn't permitted to speak.

"If it was me I would say it's because I wanted to take my time. Make sure that I can be seen, much like a taunt. To be honest I have a feeling that whoever is driving that vehicle wanted us to see them as if to call us out and attempt to engage them. It is why I'm mindful of my steps; there could be traps out here." Voras said in an intelligent way while also ensuring that his steps where indeed precious and accurate.

Maci had never thought about that, traps out on a glassed field, but it did make sense, if you have one trap go off it could a cause for the whole field to collapse with everyone on it. Then it came to Maci as she looked up over a head. Just like Voras had said, it was much like a taunt, so perhaps the Vehicle they had seen wasn't exactly on the glass field but rather just a little bit to the side of it. That would make perfect sense, but in a way there was also a lot more questions to be asked. Why then pick up speed during the night? Was it indeed a perfect cover or could it too just be another trap? Either way Maci was putting her trust for the first time in a total stranger. Voras seemed to be professional yet so was Jagoree as Maci reminded herself.

With each and every step the two sangheili took the crackling sounds of the glass could be heard, it was too eerie to be honest, that was the only thing you could heard for miles upon miles and the fact that Voras and Maci where both silent as to try and not blow their cover, it seemed awkward. Maci was trying her best to keep her eyes open for traps as the westerly winds blew in creating an odd howl like sound through what must have been nearby caverns in the mountains. It wasn't loud but it was within hearing range as Maci looked up to the darkened sky where no stars shined. It was hard to imagine living in a place like this with no stars, no light from the twin moons, nothing. It was rather depressing as Maci jumped a small hole that had been created in the glass before landing neatly and effortlessly on the ground and continuing along their jog.

"You are the first." Voras said out of the blue. "One who has not bothered me with questions after being told. Many others have always been curious and allowed that to get in the way. But do not think that I'm giving you credit or anything. You have a long way to go warrior." Voras said softly but even Maci could hear the bitter sound in his voice.

The female had never questioned about her mentors past, she just knew he had seen a lot, obviously, what stories he could tell would have been interesting in listening and learning from but Maci got the impression he wasn't the one to talk too much. So she kept her head down and ploughed onwards trying hard to do her best while this eerie scene played out, the sounds of the vehicle had disappeared but they were not in any sort of rush and by the time they had reached the other side of the glassed landscape, there was no sign of any sort of lights in the distance. With a heavy hearted sigh Maci questioned what they were going to do. Where they had come to was a dark place with lots of caverns in the mountainside which will provide for a reasonable defence as well as a spot to break for the moment, however the howling of the wind that blew through them w

Voras came up to Maci and put a hand on her shoulder to get her attention before he gestured towards one of the nearby little caves. It seemed too dark to tell anything out here as the night had fully set in, all Maci could tell was that the crunching sound of her feet against the ground told her that it was probably lose soil or maybe sand like, yet the female only walked onwards towards the cave which she found to be very eerie. The cave was formed of stone from the mountain, it had a lot of jagged edges to it, from the ceilings to some of the walls, a few crystals glimmered in the dark as Maci adjusted her lighting on her armour to its standard appearance. In this dark place there was no need to really hide, the enemy was gone and even Voras didn't mind as he seemed to find himself a spot to rest near the entrance to keep watch.

Nearby the sound of droplets falling from the above jagged edges seemed to echo deep within this place, there must have been fresh water running through the walls as Maci took her seat a little further in the cavern, just giving enough lighting to see as well as keeping away from the entrance to avoid detection in case of any nearby enemies. With a sigh Maci looked around, this place looked ike it hadn't been touched for many years, she'd never been in anything like this, it was rare to even see such things as most of sanghelios was becoming more populated and turning into a large City like planet, but a few places must always exist to maintain the balance for growth of food somewhere.

On the plus side Maci managed to source out a protein bar she had tucked away in her armour as she pulled I out of the wrapper and began to slowly chew on it while enduring the long entwining silence, but eventually someone has to give and thankfully it wasn't Maci.

"Tonight we shall rest, we do not wish to over exert our armour supply on adrenaline. When the sun rises we shall head out, try to follow the tracks that may have been left behind, understood?" Although Voras spoke in a formal tone, it was also very cryptic.

"Understood, do you wish to change shifts during the night?" Maci said in hopes to spark a conversation while she bit into the last bit of her protein bar.

To this Voras only turned around slowly to glance at her, it wasn't hard due to how vibrant her armour was, he admitted it was strange but he had seen worse as he turned away from her to look out at the desolate landscape of the rough glassed field that they had passed, the mountains in the distance of rubble and somewhere an abandoned communication tower with a red blinking light. Despite the howling sound of the breeze coming through the cavern and the echoing sound of droplets of water, Voras knew deep down this was going to be a long night, but he could do this easily without the aid of a minor as he mocked inwardly.

"No, I will manage, I have far more skill in this sort of thing, and it's best you learn rather than act." Voras spoke with a dark tone as if insulted.

Maci didn't make any further comment as she opened her jaws to speak but stopped herself realizing that it was best to just leave it at that. Clearly Voras wasn't the talkative time as Maci reminded herself and took in a deep long breath of the fresh air that was flowing through. It was starting to get a little cold as Maci felt the sensation of the cool air on her face, she figured she may as well remove her helmet and lean back and try to get some rest like Voras had suggested. Upon relieving the helmet the cool air only felt colder but Maci endured it as she put her helmet along her side and leaned back against the cavern wall listening to the echoing sound of the droplets. Once morning comes it will be better, she told herself as she took in slow steady deep breaths and fell into a sleep.

 **~Morning~**

Voras wasn't kidding when he said that they would be up around the time the sun comes up as Maci was awoken to Voras clapping his hands. When she opened her eyes she looked over towards him, he was standing and fully prepared, the faintest line of orange sunlight in the distance as Maci glanced outside of the cavern. It was odd to wake up, no sounds of birds or life at all, even the dripping sound seemed to have eased and the howls through the cavern had become nothing more than a faint whisper as Maci sighed and stood up, grabbing her helmet and put it on. Today is a new day, she told herself as she inhaled a deep breath and followed Voras outside of the cavern.

Even though it was dark Maci could just see a little more, the ground was indeed a dark red dusty sand colour, it looked very lose, perhaps close to a desert area or maybe the ash of the lost city that may have once stood here. Either way Voras didn't let Maci get much time to look around as they started to walk along the side of the glassed field. The dark look of a black ocean was how Maci felt as she looked over the glassed field, it was even more eerie then Maci had thought as she tried hard not to think about it anymore and instead looked over at Voras whom had his back facing to her.

"Might we be best on higher ground? We might be able to spot the tracks from there and keep any enemies off our back." Maci said softly in hopes that she didn't annoy Voras.

He probably wasn't much of a morning person either as Maci gulped down in fear of what he might say or do as the male stopped walking and slowly turned to Maci to glance at her for a brief moment. They seemed to pause like this for a few minutes, Maci afraid of what he might say or do while Voras thought it over before he looked over towards the darkened mountain tops. Maci did have a good point as the male sighed and nodded.

"Fine we shall do it your way. But first we must get through the canyons through the mountain to find any sort of place." Voras said looking onwards before turning back to Maci. "But watch your back" His last words sent a shiver up Maci's back as he spoke them coldly before walking on.

It was a start to something as Maci followed on through the darkened landscape that was soundless with a skip in her walk, the ground only felt more rocky as they went and entered through the pathway through the mountains, they must have been made during the first wars with the San'shyuum thousands of years ago when they first visited sangheilos because most of these pathways seemed jagged, dangerous edged with rocks falling down which echoed throughout the land. Most of the sediment around here was a deep rich red which indicated that it probably wasn't very fertile land as Maci traced her hand over the edges of the side of the walls. It was hard to keep entertained but she did her best by checking over her back to gaze down a dark narrow pathway of jagged rocks.

Their path started to go up a slow slope as they ascended upwards, but it was fairly dark and they often found it hard to walk upon the ground with how lose the soil was. It made Maci question why all this soil was so lose as she gazed around, at least this narrow canyon pathway they were going up seemed to have been a little nicer looking compared to the others with jagged walls that seemed to be collapsing. With a sigh Maci looked up at the sky as it was turning a faint dark crimson with the sun probably coming up for the morning sunrise. However in this canyon they would not see the sun, not until it was well and truly up in the sky. Then Voras and Maci stopped at the odd sound of something falling hard. It echoed through the area making it hard to pin point it as Maci turned around and looked behind them.

"Stay still, don't make a sound" Voras whispered as he gazed up and around at the top of the mountain.

They were like trapped insects if the enemies decided to attack as they both scanned up high and low. Voras couldn't tell how much further it would be before they would be on top of this mountain, and it was hard to tell with what it that was might be around near them, it could have even just been a simple rock falling from above. After a few brief moments Voras gestured for Maci to walk forward, their steps a little more lighter as Maci scanned around them, often looking behind them, but the further they went the darker it seemed to get. It seemed all ok as Maci exhaled and relaxed a little bit but then both Voras and Maci dropped when they both heard something whoosh and above them a shadow flashed across the top of the path way they were going. The rock formation didn't help, it was narrow, a one way person trail with lose soil and darkness around them making it a perfect spot to be picked off at. Maci stopped and stood still with Voras as they glanced up, but then something else came whoosh past them as a rock landed heavily just past Voras. Maci immediately spun around but as she did she saw a black figure briefly before her face collided with a closed fist knocking her unconscious.

 **~An hour later~**

 _"What should we do with them?"_ A voice in the distance mumbled, it didn't sound like a sangheili.

Maci lolled her head as she groaned out in pain to the throbbing sensation that stretched across the bridge of her nostrils as Maci struggled to rub her face only to find her hands had been bound behind her back. Her mind was too dazed to panic as she leaned against something odd trying to come to what was happening. Who exactly had ambushed them and captured them, how the heck did this go so very wrong?

 _"Shit one of them is waking up."_ Another voice called out, a little more high pitched and sounding panicked.

 _"Shut up, these trap jaws where probably doing the same as us!"_ A gruff and dark sounding voice called out.

 _"Hey! Let's stop fighting, we need to come up with a solution We can't just keep them tied up you know what these guys can do"_ Another voice said, it too was high pitched but different compared to the other one.

From what Maci could tell their voices sounded different to sangheili, they were not exactly speaking their language but Maci knew very well that language, she had studied it for many years as a child, and their voices sounded muffled, almost robotic like and amplified. As Maci squinted open her left eye to get a better look she wasn't surprised to spot four large and well-built armoured looking figures. They stood straight and tall, their armour was thick and their visors gave off a faint reflection, but their exact identity was covered by the darkness, they were just mere silhouettes.

 _"Look all I'm saying is maybe we contact Oni, they might be able to tell us what to do and if these guys are a part of the enemy they would fetch for a hefty price"_ One of them said again, this one sounded like a young male and the way he spoke was with enthusiasm as if this was some sort of a game.

 _"No! You know what Oni does to sangheili, it's not right!"_ A female whispered but her tone was threatening and stern towards the other male as she raised her fist towards the smaller skinny male that had obviously spoken up.

 _"Oh don't give me that bullcrap, you and your trap jaw sympathy"_ Mocked the skinny male again as he waved his hand about and shrugged her comment off.

 _"Would you idiots be quiet, we aren't selling them. We will get the information we want out of them and then that's it, this place will kill them well before anything else will, and plus we need our bullets."_ Commented the gruff male, he seemed to be the head of the group, his back was turned to them and a vibrant blue glow emitted from a holographic panel that lit up from his gauntlet.

All the while Maci remained silent, she could tell that her hands had been bound by an electronic device similar to what Sangheili would use on prisoners, it only brought back dark thoughts as Maci tried to hold herself together. However she could feel that her hands where bound next to someone else and Maci figured out pretty fast that it was Voras and she must have been bound up against him, not to mention leaning against him appearing dazed.

Then the sounds of footsteps came over towards Maci, she closed her eyes and prayed deep down that they were not going to hit her or torture her for whatever information it was that they wanted. In fact Maci had no idea what they wanted, but she most certainly knew that these humans where not going to get away with this as Maci felt the presence of a Hand grab her helmet. Opening her eyes wide the skinny male jumped back alarmed and surprised. It had the other three turn fast on their heels, two females and two males Maci noted, the two females had aimed their rifles at her which Maci only made a low growl like sound at them before looking up at the scrawny male.

 _"I wouldn't dare!"_ She muttered under her breath speaking in their language.

 _"Well would you look at that, this one really is awake. Hey there Split jaw didn't think you guys knew how to even be civil"_ Taunted the male as he approached Maci again.

She was vulnerable and had no way of defending herself as the male grabbed her helmet and lifted it off of her head looking at it. The two females lowered their weapons and made small remarks to themselves as Maci snorted protesting at the male's grubby touches on her helmet. She didn't like the way he tossed her helmet up and down like a ball before kicking it and sending it flying into the rocky mountain walls as it made a loud clanging sound that echoed. Maci only made a low growl again baring her teeth and looked away before the male turned his attention back to Maci and crouched down cocking his head from side to side as Maci looked away from his gaze and towards the ground.

 _"Do you know who we are?"_ Mocked the male again. _"Well no need, I'll tell you anyway."_ He stood up and pointed to himself with a cocky attitude. _"The names Rio, the Spartan in the white is Alice and next to her is July, oh and the big fella well that's Jude, I know right what guy calls himself Jude?"_ The male named Rio mocked as he paced back and forth.

 _"It's Judge!"_ Commented the male in the background before he flicked off whatever it was he was looking at before and turning to the other two, Alice and July were also making hush talk.

 _"Yeah yeah whatever, we call him Judy ok so you call him Judy too, oh what, sorry I forgot now that you know our names I better shoot you."_ Rio mocked as he pulled out his pistol and aimed it between Maci's eyes.

Maci only glared up at him, she noticed how close the male was and decided to smile at him, he was rather over confident as Maci quickly kicked at his feet knocking him off balance as he fell hard on his arse before cursing. The other three Spartans only watched they didn't even bother to say or do anything before going back to their conversation, probably discussing what to do with Maci and Voras. It only pissed Maci off even more but all she could do was watch and wait and hope that Voras comes up with a plan.

 _"You damned split jaw, trapped asshole!"_ Cursed Rio as he stood up right while trying to act like as if his butt wasn't sore from landing on rocky hard ground. _"That'll cost ya, you know! We Spartans don't take to you split jaws very well, you know what you might even make for a nice trophy mount in my living room"_ Rio mocked as he pointing his index finger as Maci acting like a child that was having a temper tantrum.

 _"Go ahead, I'd like to see you take my head while you still are alive."_ Maci taunted back as she snorted daring the young foolish Rio.

 _"Oh yeah well…Well…Shut up ok!"_ Rio barked, annoyed and probably pissed that he couldn't do what he wanted, yet again much like a child.

To this Maci only smirked and sat there proudly tied up as Rio strutted away trying to get in on the group conversation. As for Maci she just leaned against Voras' back, pushing a little bit more and more until she felt him give a faint gruff push back, just enough to nudge her to know her place. That's all Maci needed to know so that she knew he was playing this out. With a deep breath in Maci listened to the sounds of their voices, the hushed tones they spoke as they echoed but where nothing more than a muttered sentence of words that Maci couldn't understand. Either way she was happy with putting Rio in his place, only issue was, how the heck would they get out of this?


	5. Maci

**A/n:** Thanks guys for the love :D This chapter kicks off fast so to speak, it reveals a little bit about Maci and her name, and is focusing on how she has developed a lot from her previous stories.

 **Name: Maci Durramee  
Year: 2564 June  
Gender: Female  
Age:26  
Rank: Minor  
Location: Unknown Warzone, Sanghelios**

 **Maci**

A few hours had passed since Maci and Rios little stand-off, by this point of time with the sun now being in the middle of the sky and cascading light down upon them, it gave away the Spartans Identity, Judge had dark olive armour with a green visor that looked standard addition, Alice had a white cream look with faint blue markings with a blue visor while July had an all-black armour on, heck even her visor looked black. However Rio had dark green looking armour, not the olive like Judge's but a dark green with vibrant lime green patterns including his visor. Most of them had medium to large armour, Judge obviously had the heavy appearing armour but Rio had less armour then the others and Maci could only think of it as being similar to the hunter standard of armour that Spartans used.

Voras had been forced to wake up since the Spartans had been doing nothing but chatting to one another, it seemed they were rather dumb founded or in Maci's words, didn't have to guts to do their job as she mocked. Rio of course had continued his back and forth rambling and taunting at Maci but he at least kept his distance now, being fully aware of the fact that Maci had kicked him off balance earlier. However Voras remained silent, he was probably the good type at doing that, but Maci on the other hand only taunted back and each time she gained a little bit of information. Turns out from that she could tell the UNSC had sent them here to partake in a particular mission, but for all Maci knew it could have been one heck of a lie.

 _"So tell me why you are here, I thought Sangheili don't allow their females to fight? Right?"_ Rio said again taunting Maci as he shrugged with this pathetic childish attitude.

 _"Because I learned how to fight back against idiots like you"_ Maci retorted as she snorted and looked away from the brat.

If he was her son she would have taught him a lesson or two, but it was time to change the conversation around for once as Maci looked back at Rio. All of these Spartans have different classes from what Maci had studied, and it wasn't hard to pick that these guys didn't have manners which meant they were not raised up to be soldiers.

 _"Let me guess you guys are a mark what…Iv? In Spartans correct?"_ Maci said as she taunted at Rio.

This caused the young male to stop in his tracks and instead brought unwanted attention upon Maci, and although she was being smart she didn't expect what was to come. Judge strolled up towards Maci pushing Rio to the side almost sending the kid to the ground for a second time today. Unlike the others Judge was intimidating, he was silent and seemed to calculate his moves based upon his attitude, but he wasn't like the Spartan Hero who's name shall forever be remembered by all Sangheili as The Master Chief. Yet Judge did seem to have a soldier like appearance, maybe some PTSD as Maci glared into the visor of the larger Spartan Male daring him as he crouched down so their eyes where now level with one another or at least Maci could only assume as she raised a brow.

 _"What we are is none of your damned business!_ " Judge said in a bitter tone while clenching his fists.

Once he had said that he stood up right and stormed off towards the two female Spartans, they had been standing guard for some time keeping watch which made Maci question just who exactly they were, was it possible they were helping some cargo that they had seen yesterday? Making a low growl Maci finally broke under the pressure, Voras didn't dare to interfere.

 _"It's my Business since you're on MY PLANET! So what brings four damned Spartans here, what would the UNSC want with us?"_ Maci yelled at the top of her lungs.

Judge was fast to turn on his heels and unlike the others he didn't pull his gun out, in fact his fists collided with Maci's face as she let out a pained yell which echoed through the canyon area. Judge clearly had anger management issues, Voras seemed to stiffen up when the second fist hit Maci but then something odd happened. Rio jumped in between using his jet pack to boost himself and push Judge away before standing between the two. For once the brat had some sort of guts while he stood with his hands on hips looking down at Judge whom had hit the side of the canyon wall and leaning against it for support.

 _"Don't get in my way RIO!"_ Argued Judge as he stood up getting into a fighting stance.

 _"Look we've been standing here for hours, no one's come for them its obvious they aren't with those rebel guys!"_ Rio retorted back as he too got into a fighting stance.

The atmosphere got tense as Maci spat out blood, her right side of her face was in a hell of a lot of pain, but nothing seemed broken, just a bruised jawline from the sensation of it as Maci moved her mandibles. Either way she would be fine, her armour would pump in healing antibiotics to move along the speed of the healing process. However what made her so intrigued was how Rio suddenly went from being a brat that called sangheili trap jaws or split mouths to suddenly defending her. Both Judge and Rio stood like this for a while, the two females didn't bother getting involved and it gave Maci the impression that they wanted nothing to do with this situation.

 _"That could just be a game they are playing! You know what their kind can do, they glassed our planets, and they took our loved ones away from us!"_ Judge yelled before he leaped towards Rio whom effortlessly dodged the larger Spartan with ease.

 _"That was many years ago, since then we decided to work with them, or have you forgotten that? These guys clearly aren't the ones starting the war!"_ Rio yelled at Judge whom was lying upon the ground slowly getting back up.

For a moment the two remained in silence before Rio walked forward towards Maci picking up her helmet along the way. The strange brat of a Spartan put her helmet back on as if it gave her some means of dignity before he bent down and unleashed their bindings, but perhaps that was his mistake. As the bindings came off Voras was quick to jump up swinging his right arm and hitting Rio's helmet knocking back the Spartan as he took a few steps back before gaining back his balance. Alice and July had pulled out their guns and aimed towards Voras while Maci slowly got to her feet and let out a gruff sound.

"Even if we fought our way out we'll be making too much noise, we are outnumbered anyway." Maci said to Voras as she looked over at Judge.

This one was the dangerous one as she eyed him off, the temptation to give him a good punch to the face was indeed very much but she held back and took in a deep breath, Voras was overwhelmed by the situation but he was stubborn and had a lot of pride obviously like any Male warrior of the Sangheili, it was their culture to never back down from a fight no matter the outcome or situation.

"Two Sangheili can take down four Spartans, give or take." Voras retorted back with a low growl towards Maci.

For once the young female had a rather good point but she knew she couldn't step out of line, if she did the fear of being yelled at and put back in prison for stepping out of line and not obeying commands was very high. Three Spartans had their guns trained on them, and although they had shields Maci knew this place was a death trap, for both parties. The canyon was too narrow for a fight, there was no escape route and even if they tried they would have to use up too much precious energy and time. Heck they had already lost a lot of time in tracking down the vehicle from yesterday.

 _"I'm not saying we should trust them but the female one has a point I guess. We don't need to fight this out; otherwise Oni would have contacted us by now."_ Rio said was he waved his hands in the air as if to act like he could calm down the storm.

Voras was tense as he snarled and let out a low growl over towards Judge, Maci stood still they didn't have their weapons but Maci didn't want to use them anyway, in fact the Spartans that did have their weapons was Alice and July, the two females that stood further away. It was a very clear tactic as Maci sighed, it was clear there was no way of keeping any sort of peace as the female looked between all the Spartans, she didn't want to fight but she had to, after all orders are orders. However Maci had created a plan in her head that would serve their purpose well and maybe just maybe make Voras not so stubborn and stop these Spartans from shooting at them. With a deep breath in Maci too took a stance aimed towards Rio whom just simply stood there with his arms in the air signalling his defeat.

In a single beat of the hearts Voras jumped towards at Judge obviously because he was the top dog of this group of humans, the two collided to the ground knocking the rifle out of Judges Hand as they began to punch at one another. Maci took the chance to leap at Rio and just a foot away from him she leaped into the air using all of her strength, in the process hearing the male make a faint yelp sound. The two females pointed their guns and began to fire but as Maci pushed against the canyon wall she landed perfectly behind July who couldn't spring fast enough. With one hand on the Spartans Gun and the other grabbing one of her energy blades Maci put the blade towards the females neck as she activated the plasma sword hearing the Spartan let out a faint painful whimper as both of her tiny hands tried to pull Maci's hold off of her.

 _"ENOUGH!"_ Maci yelled as she looked over at Rio, Alice and then the two fighting males.

Everyone stopped; everyone looked at Maci and looked to the large energy sword that was a mere inch away from the Spartans vulnerable neck. Maybe Voras had a point, maybe they could have taken them and gotten away, but Maci felt that otherwise it was a pointless gamble; Rio seemed to be on terms with Maci as he pointed and made a faint giggle sound trying to not laugh as if it was funny to see his own companion in a dangerous situation. Either way Maci kept a stern look on her face but her eyes fell upon Judge recognizing him as the leader and then she looked at Voras whom seemed overly surprised by Maci's action.

 _"I've had enough of this pointless fighting. We aren't with anyone, we were just sent to gather information from Sangheili HQ. We had no idea any Spartans would be here, now LOWER YOU'RE WEAPONS. Before I do something we will all regret!"_ Maci said letting the blade of her sword come just a little closer to the Spartans neck as she snarled taking full charge of the situation.

Rio whom was already unarmed quickly put his hands back in the air, Judge let go of his hold on Voras as Voras let go of him. The two males stood up and backed away from one another but not without a few smart ass words and glares towards one another. The female Spartan Alice dropped all of her guns immediately and if Maci could have guessed there was probably a look of horror and begging for forgiveness on the females face. Since everyone seemed unarmed Maci flicked her energy blade off and pushed the female Spartan away from her as she took in a long deep breath.

 _"How hard was that"_ She spat at them with a dark glare over towards Judge.

If Voras had of remained calm and tried hard not to attack they might have gotten through this, but at the same time with the way Judge was perhaps it was best played out this way as Maci put her energy blade back on her thigh before yanking the other one from July. Although the tension in the air only heightened as Maci didn't seem to be too concerned as she looked over at Rio.

 _"Thank you for intervening before. You're a rare Spartan."_ Maci said before she walked calmly past everyone and over towards Voras as she glared up at him. _"We can help each other. From the sounds of it we may as well be after the same group."_ Her words cool and collect, professional almost as if she had indeed had experience before.

Of course she didn't know all the information that Voras did, but he only nodded and looked around. Clearly this was how it had to be as Maci looked back to the other three Spartans and then back over towards Judge whom only stood strong, annoyed of course with the outcome, but in the end he only shrugged under Maci's glare.

 _"I totally agree. We can cover a lot more ground that way as well and plus it'll be like a covert group right? The enemy won't suspect us to be working together."_ Rio said surprisingly as he looked around at his fellow Spartans.

With that said and done, Alice and July organized themselves and strapped their weapons back on while taking a moment after having gone through that. It seemed to be that July and Alice where very close, closer then friends which was a relationship Maci did not understand but only nodded over towards them. Somehow she had yet again taken charge of the situation and this time Voras wasn't going off at her, but Maci let Voras take the lead from here as he looked over at Judge.

 _"He has a point. If we work together it may serve our purpose better."_ Voras said as he extended his arm out towards Judge.

 _"Fine, we shall do it that way. Plus you know these landscapes and beasts better than us, we could do with some inside information."_ Judge said as he sighed softly and unfolded his arms from his chest and shook Voras hand for a brief moment.

With all of that which had been said and done the group, now teamed up headed off up the canyon to who knows where. Along the way Voras explained to Judge what he had seen but Maci remained silent as she walked behind the group often keeping a look out for any enemies coming up behind them. To her surprise Rio walked slower and seemed to fall back by her side with his arms behind his head appearing relaxed.

 _"You know I thought you were going to kill me back there"_ Rio said as he pointed to Maci.

 _"I thought about it, but I realized what point is it to kill someone without a real reason?"_ Maci remarked as she shrugged her words emotionless.

The sun was now hitting the afternoon mark, the clouds had begun to come back over darkening the land once more, it seemed that this happened during the afternoons before the night would fall which meant that they had already wasted a lot of time and energy fighting amongst themselves. At least on the plus side they were almost at top of this mountain, the soil seemed steadier as they went and the canyon walls seemed to get smaller and smaller.

 _"There was plenty of reason, we held you captive, almost sold you to Oni but we figured it was best to just stick to our UNSC Spartan protocol"_ Rio said as he mocked the last few words. _"But you have a good point, I don't like the idea of spilling blood for a pointless reason and I've never seen a Sangheili try to ever end an argument with a sword to someone's throat. It always ends up with blood being spilt"_ Rio said a little more on the softer side, like as if he lost his energy. Though he quickly returned back to the odd skip in his walk like as if he was too relaxed, too foolish, his footing lose and not professional, much like a child's walk.

From what Maci could tell these Spartans had seen their own fair share of wars, Judge had been outraged when Rio had intervened acting like as if all sangheili deserved to die and it only seemed that in Rios words that he himself had probably been through a lot and seen many deaths that of which had been caused by Maci's kind. It made the situation a little heavy hearted as the group made their way to a flat ground overlooking the entire area as far as the eye could see. In the distance was the rubble city that they had walked through, the glassed fields they had crossed and just further down it appeared the old faint tracks of a wheel mark. They were old but they seemed to be heading in the direction that Voras and Maci had seen the truck going in. Only issue was the tracks where old and almost gone because of the lost soil and the wind that was once again picking up.

The group came to a halt and seemed to be looking over the edge of the cliff trying to figure out how old the tracks where but Maci already knew the answer. Too old, the trail was cold by now and their enemy was probably well ahead of them. From what Maci could gather between conversation from Voras and Judge, their seemed to be some sort of a terrorist group in the area, and it obviously must have consisted up of Sangheili and Humans as well since both the of the groups where now here. Maci didn't want to think about what this terrorist group was doing but she had a very good idea it involved making something that was large enough to glass an entire field. Only question was what for exactly? Was it just a testing area out here or maybe something far bigger?

After a few brief minutes Maci looked up at the sky watching a faint bird sail across the darkening landscape. It was odd to see a bird out here, it was an exotic type too and it probably should have had a flock but it didn't as Maci looked onward and tapped Voras on the arm before pointing towards the flying creature. Everyone fell silent and watched.

 _"I'm pretty sure those types of species only fly in flocks. So why is there one all the way out here?"_ Maci questioned as she drew in a deep breath of the cold air.

 _"May be our enemy, it only looks like about 5 clicks out. If we hurry now we might get there before night fall."_ Judge said as he looked over at Voras.

The two nodded and the group quickly followed onward walking upon high ground. Maci and Rio stuck together, in fact Rio kind of reminded Maci a little bit of Sko but more on the cocky side and a little less smart. Though they didn't speak much as Maci was too focused on watching the bird that was circling around and around for at least an hour or so before it eventually dived towards the ground. It didn't matter by then as the group jogged across the rocky surface, jumping over faint gaps and ledges. They were a fair way up almost skyscraper height and if anyone fell it would be a death sentence. Their pace was kept to a minimum as the two females scouted ahead looking for traps and trying to see if anyone else was out ahead while Maci and Rio kept a look out behind them for any enemies.

It was a rather great team effort, they would be running for a few more hours as time grew but as a team group of humans and sangheili it seemed to work well. Maci had never truly worked with humans before but her Father always spoke highly of them. However the night had set upon them and they decided it was best to take up camp, they managed to find a decent area to rest that was hollowed out in the mountain top which provided enough space for everyone. Judge took the first watch and Voras would follow afterward as Maci found herself comfortable along the rocky mosey wall. It was wet in here much like a cavern, there seemed to be a small little trail of water too. July and Alice both took of their helmets, Alice had red long flowing hair with striking green eyes as she washed her face and along her side was July, she had black thick hair that was done in a bun a lot neater then her companion, she also had striking blue eyes much like Maci's. In fact the group seemed to use the lighting from their armours much like Maci to see where they were.

Rio slumped down next to Maci, she could hear his armour crack and scrap against the wall of this caved area, he seemed to lean against the wall, flick one of his legs over the other and pulled off his helmet, he was odd looking, he had a thin face unlike most of the bulky human males Maci had seen. In fact for a Spartan he was rather scrawny as Maci had noted several times. He had blond short hair that had been cropped on the sides and odd hazel eyes as he let out a sigh before noticing that Maci was watching.

 _"What never seen a human before?"_ Rio taunted with a laugh, however he had a good point, Maci had never seen a human in real life, not up close.

 _"If I may be honest, No I have not, only on Holo vids."_ Maci replied back as she nodded her head and looked away.

 _"Well I guess now you can say you have. By the way I didn't catch your name. I know the big fellas named Voro or Voras, or something like that."_ Rio said deep in thought to the last of his words before shrugging it off and looking back at Maci expecting her answer.

 _"Maci…Maci Durramee."_ She softly said looking at him for a brief moment and then back to the soft ground upon which she sat.

 _"Maci? Huh that's a strange name for a sangheili."_ Rio said as he rubbed his chin.

 _"My Father was a great warrior; before I was born he fought a Spartan, like your kind. Said she was the greatest warrior he had ever fought against, greater than any sangheili warrior. So he named me after her. A unique name but one I shall hold with honour and pride."_ Maci said softly not looking at Rio.

In fact the male Spartan seemed to become quiet by this story, he obviously wasn't expecting that, however the two females had overheard as July looked up at Maci watching her for a brief moment before speaking up.

 _"In French Maci means Weapon. A name anyone should be proud of."_ July said before looking away.

This new information made Maci look up, she never knew that, she knew humans had various languages much like Sangheili however Maci was speechless, she wanted to say thank you but so much had already happened today, it was best to just rest as Maci took in the information and nodded mindlessly before closing her eyes and taking in a few deep breaths in hopes that tomorrow will be another day, a better day.


	6. Ambushed

**Name: Maci Durramee  
Year: 2564 June  
Gender: Female  
Age:26  
Rank: Minor  
Location: Unknown Warzone, Sanghelios**

 **Amubushed**

As the night had taken over and most of the Spartans had fallen asleep, despite the occasional howl of wind, Maci Durramee sat wide awake, no breathing technic could calm her inner concerns of what could happen or might happen as she looked up at the dark ceiling illuminated by the faint radiant glow of her armour.

Today had been a long enough one and now Maci knew that another day was starting as she looked out towards the caverns opening to see Judge sitting still, he looked almost lifeless like a silhouette in the darkness, not even his own Visor reflected but and it gave Maci a cold feeling. Being around humans for the very first time in her life and the fact they were Spartans didn't just make her nervous but rather on edge. Of course saying that Maci didn't mind them, but she was uncertain, she felt that she could trust Rio a little more now but trust was something Maci had to learn again. She'd been betrayed one too many times, and just somehow she might come back from all of that, she might just make it at the end of this.

Rolling onto her side to gaze away from Judge, Maci looked into the inner darkness of the damp cold place they had taken up shelter in. There were no howling sounds like the previous cave Maci had slept in, only a faint whisper. The air was dank and stale almost with the lingering smell of moss growing, it was also colder air to breath in as Maci had to adjust to that. Then once the sun would rise she knew there would be more sand and more glassed areas, what she was hoping for was something that would turn this whole situation around, that would end up putting them a lot closer to the finish line then the start and the memory of a bird flying high in the sky gave Maci that little bit of hope as she slowly drifted into her sleep thinking only of the most positive things.

 **~An hour later~**

Something echoed, the walls vibrated, a loud boom sound had gone off that of which had disturbed Maci's sleep. Along her side was an even more tired and confused Rio as he jumped up, Maci stumbled and struggled to get to her feet as all four Spartans sprung up putting on their helmets as fast as they could, apart from Judge as he ducked for cover behind the caves entrance with one hand raised up over his helmet as if to protect himself.

Voras was also woken and immediately grabbed his plasma pistol holding it up high enough to hit a Spartan right between the eyes. However as for the young female sangheili she quickly moved in front of Rio pushing him back, the younger Spartan was very dazed as his nervous fingers tried to grab his human pistol but struggled and dropped it on the ground before clumsily grabbing it. Again another boom sound went off that caused the caves walls and ceiling to shake with such force that small bits of rocks and dust fell down. Maci quickly dimmed down her armours lighting and crouched as she stealthily moved forward to get a better look at what was going on.

No one said a word just remained stiff as a bored; even Judge did as they waited a minute but the booming seemed to have ceased. Peeking out from the side of the caves entrance Maci looked out below activating her camo at the same time. It was too dark to see anything, Maci recalled that she must have only gotten an hours sleep as she realized that the sun had still not come up over the horizon, nor did the twin moons shine down due to the thickness of the clouds. Then Maci saw something strange just a few feet below them as she squinted and leaned forward a little more. It was like an odd green dot that was slowly growing and growing and growing.

Jumping back in time Maci deactivated camo and gasped for air as she watched the vibrant green plasma energy hit just above he caves entrance causing another shaking movement for them all. Alice and July where held up near the back of the cave alongside Rio, Judge had not made a single move nor had Voras as Maci turned to look at them all from over her shoulder. Taking in another deep breath she fully turned her body towards Voras; he only looked at her like any officer would look at any warrior as he awaited her report.

 _"Whoever is down there has a Fuel Rod and somehow has discovered our location. It too dark to see who exactly."_ Maci softly said in a whispered tone which echoed very lightly throughout the cavern.

Everyone heard what she had said, Alice and July deep in thought, Rio aimed his pistol towards the entrance while Voras took in a long deep breath, however Judge stood up and pointed a finger right at Voras. Once more there was tension in the air as Maci gulped down watching and just hoping this didn't end up in another fight like before, they couldn't risk it, not with someone out there with a fuel rod.

 _"Fuel Rods are only used by Covenant enemies!" Judge said in a bitter harsh tone. "I knew we shouldn't have trusted you. You both led us here, a death trap!"_ Judge was quick to point the finger causing the others to consider what he was saying.

Maci only made a low growl but she didn't think for a single moment to draw her swords, she only looked over at Voras hoping he could come up with some other sort of plan, but he only stood there, a dark look on his face and Maci knew this was all just a waste of time. Another plasma shot up but this time just below the caves entrance. It was like the enemy was trying to make a direct blow in here but even they seemed unable to see much which told Maci it couldn't have been a Sangheili with any sort of special tech, which then made it even more clear to her that this couldn't have been their doing if anything. For all Maci knew, they had gone on a mission that was meant to be about gathering information, they had not been contacted and it was at least a 24 hour mission which by this time was close to being up, so it didn't make sense for anyone to come looking for them right now.

 _"Hold up! Before we start pointing fingers and playing the blame game, there is no way any one of the Sangheili Council would have sent anyone after us, we have been of the grid and our mission was simple, gather information and leave."_ Maci said calmly in hopes to cool things down.

 _"Oh yeah what kind of Information gathering huh? Spartan kind!?"_ July barked a little too loudly as it echoed through the cavern.

Maci only stood back now feeling the weight of her regret upon her, Voras didn't say anything it was as if he just stood there knowing that this was going to happen and keep happening every time trouble raised, maybe it was just his instincts, maybe his experience with Spartans in the past, Maci didn't know but what she did know was that right now she wasn't going to give up.

 _"Look I'll prove it to you all. If I go out there with Permission and they attack me then the jokes on you guys!"_ Maci said as coldly and sternly as she could without raising a voice.

However her gaze turned towards Voras with a very dark cold look in her eyes as she raised her brow, she was waiting on him to answer as she watched him relax and think over it, but before he could say or do anything Judge was quick to turn on Maci as he pushed her against the wall holding here by her throat.

 _"NO! That's just part of your game isn't it? Make us think that you are on our side and gather our information! I knew it all along, the Arbiter couldn't be trusted!"_ Judge said as he pressed his thumb right into the small flesh above Maci's collar bone choking her.

She wanted to resist, to hit him and kick him, to get him the hell away from her but she knew that would only raise more questions as she stood there and took it baring her teeth at him. Not even Rio dared to get involved but it seemed even in the darkest hour there is a faint glimmer of light. More preciously a vibrant green light of plasma as it hit a little too close for comfort almost near the caves roof as Plasma reflected on Maci's armour like vibrant sparks of light. She could hear someone down below call out, but it wasn't Sangheili, it was human. The shake of the plasma was enough to loosen Judges hold on her as she pushed him back and then looked behind. Even Voras was prepared by this point to leave having already figured out that their time was up.

 _"Now look what you have done!"_ Maci yelled. _"You've blown our damn cover and put us all at risk!"_ Maci activated her energy blades just as she finished.

Alice, July and Rio all jumped back at the sight of both of her blades being activated but Judge only raised his fists up and took up a fighting pose towards Maci, but Maci didn't have time for that as she turned to Voras whom gave her a nod of approval already having figured Maci's plan out. She entered her camo and jumped down below before spinning like a hurricane as she landed cutting two of her enemies heads off in the process. She heard someone make a whimper sound and another scream, but before Maci could get the chance to turn and look a plasma pistol was fired from Above as Voras jumped down joining her.

"Quickly take cover!" Voras yelled as an array of fire arms began to go off.

Plasma pistols, needlers, bullets, every kind of weapon known to everyone was going off lighting up the night as Maci dashed behind a large rock of rubble. She couldn't see much as she was joined by Voras, the enemy seemed to be focused on them for a while as Maci could hear the loud yelling sounds of…well everything. It didn't make sense as she gulped down and stiffened up prepared to attack or be ambushed but then the sounds of a rifle from above echoed down as Maci watched a clumsy Rio stumble down the side caching his foot and falling, he was joined by Alice and July as they too ran for cover to a nearby stone.

It surprised Maci as she could make out their faint outline, but Maci knew their cover was blown as she looked over at Voras, he was trying to calculate the enemy by listening, his eyes where closed and Maci knew that look a little too well by now as she sat tight and waited. Judge must have come down as well but at least most of the heat wasn't focused on them right now. From what Maci could tell there must have been about 20 of them or so, too many for two Sangheili to take on, and too risky for something like an information gathering mission.

"Listen close and carefully." Voras said faintly just loud enough to be heard over the sound of rapid fire. "I'll draw their attention as best as I can from behind here. You go into Camo and flank them from the sides; it'll be enough to catch them off guard for a brief moment. I'll toss out a grenade which should at least get most of them and by then you head back as fast as you can behind the nearest cover. This isn't a combat mission but you may as well get some experience at it." Voras said as he seemed to prep himself by pulling him a sticky in one hand and his plasma pistol in the other hand.

With a deep breath in Maci nodded, she knew what this meant as she ensured her energy lights on her armour was fully activated meaning that her Armour was at its highest capacity of performance rate as she held tightly onto her energy blades and waited for Voras's command. The Spartans where cornered pretty much as Maci took a glance over at Rio whom was trying to fire back but was lucky to even hit a single person. All it took was a nod from Voras and Maci hit her camo and entered the field darting through the darkness of the night around the firefight. Voras had begun to draw their attention as he took a fair few hits but his armour shield could take it. He'd killed one of what Maci could only see as being a human, but as she drew in closer her fears caught up with her.

Not only where there three humans in odd looking metal armour formed by rubbish, but also Kig-yar, which half didn't surprise Maci, but a few Sangheili, Two Kig-yar and a grunt running at Spartans and open firing from behind cover didn't make sense. There were also a group of Grunts further along that had taken cover, one of which had tossed a sticky that blew half off the Rock that the Spartans where hiding behind. The humans seemed to be taking the lead, another three more Sangheili backed the group up as Maci figured to take out the three from behind. It didn't feel right, killing her own kind, but as Maci leaped into the air and deactivated her camo, her blades made a direct beeline as she hit the ground fast slicing one in half, the other two backed up with horror, they were afraid but didn't dare to scream as Maci darted towards the middle of them and twirled in the air cutting both of their heads off in one swift blow.

By that time a human had pointed her out and Maci wasn't sure when Voras was tossing that Grenade of his but Maci decided it was best not to get into the middle of the group. A grunt came charging at her with a needler as Maci used her blades to direct the fire right back at him which one large needle hit back and embedded in the grunts neck as it collapsed gasping for air before falling to the ground in a heap of its own blood. The rest of the Grunts had decided to come full force at Maci as she backed up a bit before kicking one in the head, her talons on her feet making a direct cut across its face gouging out an eyeball, then with her other leg Maci kicked another sending it flying a meter or two back. With her swords she cut the head off of the last remaining grunt before she jumped back. Both grunts that she had kicked began to act odd, it was like they had lost all sense of balance as they stumbled, they began to fire and attack all around them as Maci blocked a few of their plasmas.

It wasn't long before Voras had tossed out the sticky landing it perfectly on one of the humans whom screamed alerting Maci to the situation. She didn't waste time as she ran back and took cover having to land harshly behind a rock before the explosion went off, and then everything fell into silence. After a few brief minutes Maci finally came out of cover with her energy swords activated as she panted for air, she spotted Voras moving out from behind the rock, Rio, July and Alice as well, but Judge on the other hand was strangely not in sight until the group heard an odd gruff like sound and looked over towards a collapsed rock as Judge emerged, struggling to get to his feet but nobody helped him. Seemed that even Human males carried a similar pride to that of Sangheili males as Maci noted.

The group re-joined looking over at the various species, Kig-yar, Grunts, Human, Sangheili trying to make out what it was before them with the limited light source they had. It didn't make any sense, the group was too exhausted, too strained from the fighting, Alice had a bullet wound in her left leg as July had to help her walk by supporting her side. Rio had lost his pistol in the action, but Judge remained unscathed which made Maci a little iffy about him, he only had a few minor scratches and to be honest he barley even fought as he was once more quick to point the finger at Voras.

 _"You could have killed me with that sticky! I was right out in the middle of that!"_ Scoffed the obviously agitated Judge.

 _"And so was Maci, if it wasn't for her taking most of the attention off us we would have been gone!"_ Voras bitterly said back as he took a step towards Judge having to now look down at him.

The two males remained in that particular glaring state, Maci only backed away unsure of what to say or do, she had killed, she had killed before but that was just Prometheans, not really livings creatures, the others didn't count as Maci sighed to herself trying hard not to think of the blood she had split but the reality was she had killed so many that she had lost count, and this time she had killed those whom might have been innocent. However a shoulder on her side made her come back to reality as she looked up at Voras having now realized that Judge had gone off to sulk elsewhere while the other three Spartans remained.

"A Sangheili warrior in battle that has killed many foes is promoted to the next rank. You Maci have done a fine job, you have proven me wrong, and you have shown you're skill and talent with your swords, cunningness and bravery. Once this is over you will be indeed a Marshal." Voras said with a voice that filled Maci with determination.

Blood and blood always ends with someone somewhere gaining power, but Maci didn't feel that she had passed, not truly, she had a long way to go as she took a deep breath in and gave a thankful nod to Voras slightly bowing, but there was much to still be done as they all looked at the lifeless bodies, half burnt from the plasma grenade, others cut in half or bullets to the head. It wasn't a pleasant sight but it was one that comes with battle, what had everyone thinking the same thing was why the hell was this rebellion consist of so many different species? Not only that but how did the enemy find them? It was something worth reporting, but even Voras knew that right now they could not just leave, the Spartans needed their help and Maci and Voras both felt that they owed them.

Maci looked over at Alice and noted her leg which Alice was trying to hold up, she was clearly in pain, Spartans had medical packs much like Sangheili in their suits and armour, but for some reason Alice's wasn't working which made Maci step forward as she reassured July that she had no intention to harm either one of them.

 _"You're armour…what happened?"_ Maci questions softly looking Alice up and down.

The Female Spartan only lowered her head and looked away from everyone, it wasn't exactly clear as Maci looked around Alice, it was notable that a bullet had also hit her back where the power supply for all armour is, it must have happened when they had come down. It had done significant damage to not just her armour but her jetpack as well which meant that Alice was in a limited situation and it didn't look too good from the amount of blood Alice was bleeding out. There wasn't any exit wound either which meant that the bullet was more than likely embedded into the bone and have possible shrapnel in there. Notting the immediate situation and how critical it was Maci looked around for cover, the only place they had for shelter were the large rocks they had taken refuge while under fire.

 _"Get her over to those rocks, she needs medical attentions asap."_ Maci said to July whom only complied and picked up her Spartan companion in her arms as best as she could.

If Maci was right then it's possible that Alice would get an infection being on an alien planet, but also the fact that it could have hit a vital artery in her leg and could cause a blood clot. It would mean cutting off her leg and Maci didn't feel like using her energy sword for such a reason, it just didn't seem right. Either way July seemed confident in following the procedure, Maci only stood by and assisted as best as she could all the while Alice screamed and begged for the pain to be over. It wasn't easy, watching a female Spartan that looked like she could beat the crap out of you in such a situation. However the pain was too great and Alice eventually fainted. After a few short minutes the procedure was over, July had removed as much of the bullet as she could but there was no way Alice would make a fast recovery. They were in a dire situation that could also jeopardize their mission, but Maci felt that maybe they could pull out with this information they had gathered as she got up and left July with an unconscious Alice.

However as Maci was approaching Judge and Voras whom where deep in conversation Rio came out of nowhere, Maci had sworn he had left to scout the area, but maybe she was wrong as she looked at Rio and nodded to the male as he came jogging up to her side. What Rio was about to tell Maci was unexpected as she looked him up and down, he had a little bit more of an odd look to him, more serious as he took off his helmet, his armour had numerous damage to it from probably sliding down the side of that mountainous fall from earlier as Maci took in a deep breath, the scent of sweat was all over him, however he looked afraid but he didn't smell it as Maci took note to it.

 _"There's no way anyone could have found us up there! Someone must have signalled them!"_ Rio said firmly in a strong voice as he looked around, he seemed jittery, nervous as his eyes darted about before locking back onto Maci's.

 _"This is information we need to tell Judge and Voras"_ Maci said as she walked forward in the direction of the two superiors.

As she did Rio put a hand to her shoulder stopping her in her tracks as Maci looked back at Rio, something wasn't right, she could see he was taking in deep long breaths despite the darkness of the night. Something had changed, changed between all of them, it was as if they had just realized how serious this whole entire situation was, Alice and July huddled in the corner, one passed out the other working hard to ensure the others life was safe. Judge and Voras talked in a more serious and mature way, the only one that seemed strange was Rio as Maci turned back around to him. She didn't know why, but she stopped herself from going over towards Judge and Voras, for the look in this young Spartans eyes had caught her attention and right now Maci was all ears.


	7. The Man Named Judge

**A/n:** Sometimes the worst can bring out the best in people. There is a lot going on but slowly the dots will be connected. I hope you all enjoy this more humble and emotional chapter. The next chapter will touch base on what type of enemy they are all really going up against as well as the turncoat. I also want to really thank you all for the amazing love so far for this part of the series :3

* * *

 **Name: Maci Durramee  
Year: 2564 June  
Gender: Female  
Age:26  
Rank: Minor  
Location: Unknown Warzone, Sanghelios**

 **The Man named Judge**

There was an odd look in Rios eyes that where dark and deceiving as Maci stood and listened to him in the dark of the night, in the distant the faintest red could be seen outlining the mountains in the and soon it would bring to light what exactly had happened here. At least for the past hour there had been no more attacks, meanwhile Alice had come back to it, she was still in extreme pain while July had started to attempt fixing up her armour as best as she could. However there had been a lot of damage done in the night as Maci feared for the worst. For this group was falling apart, it had from the very start, their differences, their past, it affects all of them as Maci looked at Rio, the young male Spartan being almost the same height as Maci. He had these faint little freckles on his pale white skin, his eyes drained of life but still flickered with something in them, a danger Maci didn't comprehend. Instead she blamed it on their human nature and her lack of understanding the humans.

 _"So what do you say between you and me?"_ Rio said as he put his hand out towards her, a gesture of trust and acceptance.

To be honest she had not been paying as much attention to him as she would have liked. This had been a first real fight against her own kind, before hand with the Raiders she did not see them as Sangheili but rather monsters that burned her village and Jagoree? Jagoree was the worst of them all, a sangheili that betrayed her own kind wasn't a sangheili anymore, not to mention that the changes that scientist undertook changed her appearances as well which made it easier to deal with. But this was a different situation as Maci noted while she hesitantly shook Rios hand as he smiled, his eyes coming back to life, the gleeful smile spreading across his lips making her almost smile back too, but it was too strange as the Spartan male gave a faint nod and hummed his way over towards July and Alice, there was a stride in his walk that was full of pride, but Maci didn't know why. Had he not been nervous and shaken up just a few minutes before hand?

Either way Maci took in another deep long breath, she knew that Rio was trying to convince her that Judge was the traitor among them, that he had been out to get Voras and Maci all this time. To be honest Maci was half convinced, Judge was a male human on edge and clearly had some PTSD issues, he reacted without thinking things through, and he was a wrecking ball but an unstable one. He was indeed dangerous as Maci thought it over. What topped it was Rios words in her head _. 'He was on watch while we slept, he could have signalled anyone during that time'_. Rios frightened voiced in her mind as she repeated it only made her question just what exactly where they up against. Who was their real enemy? Was there someone that was a traitor, or was this just a mere manipulation? Either way the toxic mental war in Maci's mind had gotten the best of her as she looked over to Judge and Voras, their conversation ending with a hand shake and acknowledgement towards one another that Maci did not understand. However what she did know was that she was going to keep her distance from Judge, just to be on the safe side.

As Voras turned around to leave Judge in silence his eyes locked with Maci's as he walked over towards her, he had a calm stroll, he was a veteran after all and even so he was deadly with the most simplest of weapons, a plasma pistol. Something even a Grunt could wield and cause chaos with. It just showed how powerful, wise and strong he was as a single warrior that must have gone on these missions daily, or close to it. Not to mention having someone shadow you and being in a situation like this, a perfect simple mission that goes completely wrong. It was also a curse upon Maci as she sighed, she had been on a perfect mission, off planet, it was simple, but it turned to chaos very fast. Maci only felt that it was somehow her fault, but even so right now there were a lot of questions to be asked and very few answers.

Within a few seconds Voras was standing in front of Maci, he gave her a brief nod and a pat on the back as he gestured for her to follow him. It was still fairly dark even with a little bit of light, but it was enough to see the blood stained sandy ground that they walked upon. Maci only had her head low, listening intently, she wondered how Voras could do it, the way he managed to calculate all the moves the enemy made, perhaps something that would come from years of hardship. They walked along away from the Spartans, Maci could hear Voras take in a deep long breath as if the air around the humans was toxic, he seemed relaxed with his hands behind his back as Maci caught a glimpse looking up at him, he was looking out towards the horizon where the bright red light of the sun could be seen. It wasn't like a human sunset, not the typical orange or yellow, but a blood red that was intimidating almost, but beautiful in its own way.

"The Humans…They question us. I do not blame them, even I question them." Voras said softly as he rubbed an itch under his jaw speaking in their native tongue. "Yet we have not killed each other yet. That must mean something right?" Voras said in a softer voice questioning Maci as he looked down at her.

"I do not know. I have never been in contact with a human, studied them yes, but anything else I'm unsure of. But I do know that we can't trust everyone we meet." Maci said softly as she tried to shrug off the matter, her tone held a faint bitterness to it.

"Hmm?" Voras softly hummed and rubbed his lower mandibles returning his gaze back towards the setting sun as they stopped walking. "That may be so. However you must learn to let go of your past and focus on your present. I may not know of all the information from your past mission but I can see you do not trust others easily, out of fear." Voras said as he pointed towards Maci.

Thing was he had a very good point, in fact he had nailed it on the head and it amazed Maci that someone like him could tell just by the blink of an eye as she looked up at him cocking her head slightly to the left side confused yet curious, she wanted to say something but no words would come out, so she looked back to the ground and twitched with her hands behind her back unsure of what more she could even do. Apart of her was hoping that this mission was over, but then Maci knew deep down that she had to break a promise, she had to tell Voras.

"I spoke with Rio when he returned from scouting." Maci softly said, she paused to look up at Voras, his eyes glimmering in the darkness around them as she hesitated to say more. " He said that it looked like we have someone in our group giving out information. A turncoat he called them…" Maci said as she stopped herself from saying anymore, her eyes locked onto Voras in hope of some form of information.

To this Voras did indeed hum, he nodded to Maci out of respect for her trusting him as he looked away and out into the setting sun as it slowly began to rise, the mountains could be seen just a little bit more, but the sun was still a long way off, the group was exhausted, but even Voras knew in a situation like this they couldn't just sleep around and think things over. Coming back to what Maci had said Voras thought deeply about it, he knew the term turncoat was a human term, meaning a traitor and if it was true then they could all be at major risk.

"Maci, a turncoat is someone that has betrayed us. Someone that is willing to kill us all. Do you truly believe what Rio said?" Voras said his words boldly without any form of emotion.

"Well…Yes…I mean it makes perfect sense. We got attacked while we were sleeping, it was perfectly set up." Maci said in hopes her words justified both telling him and Rio as well.

"Then who would be the most likely of those to turn against us?" Voras said a bit more softly as he now turned and looked down at Maci.

"Judge, he was on watch, it happened before you changed, he's displayed dangerous behaviours and seems to be the most motivated of all to kill us, and I think that he may even do it knowing the risk of risking his own life and those of others around him." Maci softly said, a little shameful as she looked up confused and questioning.

Under his gaze she felt slightly pressured as she gulped down, she wasn't fit to rule or lead, she wasn't someone that had so much knowledge like Voras as she prayed that he would only agree. Instead he lifted his head up and looked over his shoulder towards the group of drained Spartans, Judge was the only one that didn't seem so drained, July focused on Alice and Rio was trying to gather the bodies, looting them pretty much for his own sake.

"Maybe…Maybe not…But Maci" Voras paused to look back at Maci. "Do not allow you're paranoia to get the better of you. You are a fine warrior in the making, and whatever anyone says, don't always take it to heart. You have much to learn, but I do believe we can trust Judge. So please do not focus you're hatred on him, but focus on forgiving and learning to trust again. It is why I called you away from them; we have not had the chance to speak on our own terms around them. I'm not saying to trust your life with them, but rather trust them with the information they give us and trust that them that they know what they are doing. " Voras said as he patted Maci on the back once more and walked away leaving her to stand alone.

What Voras had said had touched Maci, she knew he was right; maybe she was wrong as she felt slightly bad for saying anything, but it was better to say something rather than nothing. With a deep breath in of the air that surrounded them, Maci closed her eyes; she focused on taking in a breath every few seconds and exhaling as she drew in the scents around them. At least here she didn't get the bitter scent of blood, it eased her mind as she cleared her head and with each exhale she felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders as she focused on what Voras had told her. Focus on the information they give you, nothing more, trust them but not with your life. It was like saying be friends but not too friendly as Maci sighed and reopened her eyes to look upon the bright light that was growing. More and more of the land could be seen, the glass field had started to reflect the lighting, yet again it seemed like a motionless sea as the darkened glass glittered and glimmered with the light that slowly touched it.

Turning on her heels Maci began to walk around the area, it would do her some good to scout, to get her mind off things, to not be stuck around the Spartans, to talk her own language as she looked observing the area. The wind had died down and all life was motionless, all that could be heard was the faint murmurs and cries from Alice in the distance. Maci felt sorry for that female Spartan, she wouldn't last long out here, she would die and that was what Maci was worried the most, what if everyone was picked off one by one? What if Voras was wrong about Judge? What if Maci was wrong about everyone? Shaking her head and taking in a deep breath again Maci tried to come to it, to stop focusing on all the bad things. However she had been surrounded by bad things all her life from the start of her adulthood till now and it didn't look like it would be changing anytime soon.

Maci gazed out towards the glassed fields as she circled around the group keeping her distance. The land they walked upon had very few tracks which told Maci that their assailants where smart enough and prepared to not leave behind any tracks, which made Maci question even more as to who they were up against. With very little information Maci could see even Voras was struggling to grasp the concept of all of this, it seemed unreal and it drew the line that whatever information gathering they were after didn't include humans and covenant rebellions working together. The big question remained as to what exactly they were after? What threat did Four Spartans and two sangheili pose?

Out of the blue Maci stopped when she heard footsteps behind her; she stiffened and turned around fast as she caught a glimpse of the larger Spartan. Judge stood about 7 foot, around eye length with Maci which probably felt odd for the both of them since Sangheili are meant to be a little bit taller than most Spartans. However seeing Judge and being alone with him put Maci on alert as she straightened her back up and took in a deep breath, her hands folded behind her back trying to hold a superior look but in reality she only did it because it would be faster to grab her energy swords and spring a surprise attack on Judge if he dared to do anything. Either way Maci looked the male Spartan up and down as he stopped a few feet away from her, not game enough to come any closer clearly.

 _"I must apologize"_ Judge said in an all too soft tone of a voice. It was still a gruff sounding voice, but it seemed softer than usual, genuine. _"For not trusting you…earlier."_ He shrugged and lowered his gaze to the ground, his hands too behind his back.

However Maci didn't reply back to him, she only took in a few deep breaths still unsure if it was safe to drop her guard around him, he was the most mysterious of them all, the most likely to kill her, he was also the most likely to be the turncoat as Maci reminded herself, but she tried to reflect on what Voras had said, try hard to trust them but not too much as Maci somewhat relaxed but still not enough to drop her guard completely. To the sound of silence, the human Spartan looked back up to her, or so Maci could only assume. Then he did something she didn't expect as he raised his hands, Maci stiffened her hands nimbly waiting, but it was like he could see her fear as he stopped midway before slowly continuing towards his head.

His hands grasped around the bottom of his helmet, a faint whooshing sound coming from it then a hiss before he slowly lifted the helmet up off his head. Tensely Maci watched as the olive green helmet was lifted up off his head as the man held it in his hands and lowered it, he didn't hold his helmet with pride, but rather looked down at the reflection it must have casted back at him. Even in the faint bit of light Maci could see he wasn't a young man, he must have been in his 50's which would explain his gruff sounding voice as he slowly turned his gaze towards Maci facing her. On his right eye was a large scar, he was blind in that eye as it was a milky white, his thin lips smiled softly towards her, his hair was short, cropped back on the sides and a little bit on the top almost forming an odd style of a Mohawk. His eye was blue; an ocean blue with the mixture of grey, there was stubble on his chin that had an odd mixture of white and grey as it darkened down along his jawline.

To this Maci dropped her guard, she didn't know why as she finally took in a deep breath and looked at the man rather surprised, she wasn't sure what to say, or more correctly how to say it as she took in his features. She'd expected to see a young buff headed male under there that was close to the same age as Rio, but to be honest without his helmet on, Maci saw a different person, a humble person that had been affected by the years of war and pain, that had endured a lot throughout his life, but also someone that was a leader.

 _"I remember when the Spartans first came. I wasn't very old back then, A young man in my prime when the Covenant first attacked our colony world. They were brave, strong, The Chief…Man…he saved us, all of us, got us onto those shuttles and away."_ Judge said as he looked at Maci and then back to his helmet as he reflected on his past. _"Of course the covenant didn't stop with one simple human colonised world, didn't stop with anything or anyone. I lived a life of fear trying to protect my family while I watched those Spartans rush out into battle, saving lives. My wife always said I was a dreamer…I tried to apply to become a Spartan, but they said I was too old…said it couldn't be done…so they took my only son."_ Judge said as he stopped and took in a few deep long breaths to calm his nerves while his hands trembled.

 _"I will never see him again, they came… ONI, I asked them, I begged to let me fight for my world, for my family. But they only took what they wanted and left us all to burn while the covenant glassed our planet. They were meant to save us…to take us away, but they only too our children. I watched my wife die in my own arms when a Sangheili cut through the middle of her head. I expected to be next, but the world is a cruel place and before that sangheili could kill me too I remember the sensation of his blade connecting down the side of my face."_ Judge faintly laughed nervously as he trailed a finger down the scar and over his eye lid. _"Some asshole of a Spartan saved me. I wanted to kill him, my world, my life, it had been destroyed, I had lost everything in a heartbeat, only a few survivors managed to make it out alive. I remember that Spartan, he grabbed me, held onto me and tossed me into a shuttle, like as if I was but a mere kitten."_ Judge made a faint gruff sound as he rolled his shoulders and screwed his face up slightly.

 _"After that…I was taken to work on some ship, I had the qualifications to be an engineer, and they took what they had at the time. Everyone was at war, before the Sangheili left the Covenant. I trained hard; I told myself if I ever saw another one of your kind that I would kill them…"_ Judge stopped again only to brush away the faintest tear as he took in a deep breath. _"A few years later, by the time I was no longer a young man they were enlisting for men and women to join the UNSC, to become Spartans. I thought it was a joke, but turns out I was wrong like always. UNSC had come to make humans more…advanced if you could say. Mark IV Spartans…Just after the Human Covenant war…But I didn't give up on that damn dream. So I enlisted myself to become like the Chief. I wanted to protect people. But war never ends. We fought and we keep fighting, and we keep killing, and every time! I would fight or train I lost a part of myself, I lost my humanity until I had nothing left…I had nothing to give but false hope and broken dreams."_ Judge shook his head and made a faint sniffle like sound, his gaze upon the dusty dirty ground before he finally looked back up at Maci with glazed eyes and a bitter look.

Even someone so stoic, so emotion, he still had a sense of his humanity somewhere deep inside of him, he just couldn't see it but Maci could. For once Maci felt that she could indeed respect him, to trust him just that little bit, because before he was a man, not a machine as she nodded towards him, breaking the distance between them and putting her hand on his shoulder feeling his pain, what he has gone through.

 _"You are not alone; we have all lost someone close to us. Even I lost those that of which had been close to me. I know the pain you bare, but you have clearly given those three a chance at making a difference."_ Maci said as she gestured towards Rio and then the two women over by the coverage of rocks. _"You say you give broken dreams and false hopes, but I think you are a rock, a foundation that helps strengthen them. Voras said to me earlier to trust, and I trust you human that we can make it through this."_ Maci firmly said with a faint smile as she squizzed his shoulder.

To her surprise he put his hand over her larger one and nodded, their eyes were locked before he let go of her hand and she withdrew hers before Judge put his helmet back on. Maci wondered if it was to cover his emotions as she heard him take in a deep long breath as she nodded and continued on her patrol of the perimeter; however she was stopped by the faint sound of laughter as she looked over at Judge whom was now looking back at her.

 _"Voras said you were a strong warrior. Now I see why."_ Was all he said with a strange sounding voice, you could almost hear happiness in his tone as he turned and walked back over towards July and Alice.

Faintly Maci chuckled as she turned away from his view, he had a good point, and it felt good to hear his story, she understood him more than ever now and maybe Voras was right and Maci was wrong, for the man named Judge was much more than a man, he was more than a soldier, more than a human and a Spartan. It actually brought a smile to Maci's face as she took in a long deep breath, her worries and concerns had now faded her as she walked on, she didn't want to think about the rising questions in her head, but rather the lesson she had learned. That even in such dark times friendships can be made, if you could call it that.


	8. Wind Chimes in the Distance

**Name: Maci Durramee**  
 **Year: 2564 June**  
 **Gender: Female**  
 **Age:26**  
 **Rank: Minor**  
 **Location: Unknown Warzone, Sanghelios**

 **Wind Chimes in the Distance.**

Many hours had passed since the group of Spartans and Sangheili moved out from the bloody corpses from the late night attack. Maci had Alice in her arms as she carried the injured Spartan, they had been walking for far too long, it had almost become afternoon. The group where now in another area filled by rubble, but still had some places that resembled buildings and houses that once had a family in them. Plastic bags blew across the former concrete street that was no cracked and split in various areas, a wind chime in the distance could be heard faintly as it jingled and jangled with the westerly winds coming in.

The group had to cross a small desert like area before getting here. Everyone was rather exhausted; from lack of sleep mainly, all but Maci and Voras. July would often come along Maci's side and check Alice who kept drifting in and out of consciousness, Maci was concerned for that, it could have been for many reasons but either way with an injured Spartan they were indeed behind their hours. Judge and Voras of course kept to the front, Rio was often scouting the area but he would come back without little to no information. Since last night everything had gone quiet, no more attacks, and no more sightings.

Voras had said that they needed to head in this direction, it was the only area that seemed to have any sort of signal, they needed to make it to the middle of this madness of rubble and trash to get a good enough signal for their beacon. Maci on the other hand had become the only one that just seemed to go with the flow of things, July always pitched in her vote for not going because Alice needed medical attention, but in the end she caved in realizing that this was their only way of getting a beacon out to get medical assistance. With a faint sigh Maci looked over her shoulder, July was behind her walking backwards with her rifle pointed out towards the horizon that they had passed. It seemed to be some strange human thing they did, Sangheili never walked backwards during such a time. Well not in this sort of a situation anyway, it was poor judgement to turn your back with the possible chances of slipping over. Merely turning your head and keeping your ears and eyes open was more the sangheili way, but walking backwards opened you up to many disastrous failures. However a hand reached up and touched Maci's mandibles. They were small little fingers as Maci turned back around and looked down at a very dazed and pale looking Alice, her hair was a mess, her helmet in her other hand. She must have taken it off while Maci was looking back at July.

 _"I never touched a sangheili before."_ Alice mused softly more to herself than anyone else.

Maci softly chuckled at Alice and shook her head. The infection in her leg must have been starting to affect her, but Maci was holding out for a ray of hope, maybe they would get her to a medical facility just in time. However Alice pushed against Maci and leaned out to look back at July with a faint smile. July had not noticed, she was too focused on keeping an eye out before Alice shifted back neatly into Maci's hold properly and looked up at Maci with a strange, friendly smile. A Smile Maci did not think anyone would give to her, but it looked funny on a human, the way their lips where.

 _"It wasn't always like this…We use to be a great group, but times have changed us all…"_ Alice weakly said.

 _"Don't you worry about a thing. We will get you to a medic fast."_ Maci softly said in a chirpy voice.

To this Alice merely looked up at her with a sparkle in her eyes and smiled before resting her head and falling back into a sleep again. This was starting to concern Maci, but she could not allow that to show as she looked up ahead, it would be about another hours walk to reach any sort of area to get a good enough signal out. The sounds in this place where eerie, the whooshing wind, the wind chime in the distance, the plastic bags and useless fabric material flapping about. It was more the fact there was no sounds of life, no laughter, no arguments, no foundation or signs of any sort of lifeform. Right now Maci would give anything just to hear something, something that was life like, not just seeing a bird in the sky or the sounds of her fellow companions, but the smells of baked goods in the morning, younglings laughing as they rush towards the temples and arenas, the sounds of grumpy old guards telling someone off, or even the faintest sound of Varos jumping on the bed early of a morning to wake up his Mother. Those where the things that brought a smile to Maci's face as she day dreamed and took in a long deep breath.

Yet nothing lasts forever when Maci's mind came back to reality, Alice had begun to squirm and made odd whimper like sounds, Maci had stopped in her tracks and looked up at Judge and Voras, Rio was still scouting, but the two leaders didn't say or do anything, not until Alice arched her back up and screamed something loud and painful. Words Maci didn't understand. That was when everyone stopped, July came rushing to Maci's side as she lowered Alice down to the ground in hopes that might help, but the look on Alice's face was not good, she had her eyes closed fully, her teeth gritted and her hands clenching and unclenching at her sides while her body trembled.

 _"Move aside"_ July said quickly pushing Maci out of the way and getting to Alice's side as fast as she could.

Voras came up behind Maci and watched while Judge approached and also looked onwards. July was their medic from the looks of things, she knew what to do and how to do it as she withdrew a hidden blade from the front of her armour and began to tear at the bandage wrap she had put on Alice's leg revealing the gruesome horror. Alice's flesh around her wound seemed to be decaying at a higher rate; a horrible wafting smell came about in the air as even July had to hold herself back while trying to examine the wound. However the deep ink black veins around the wound told Maci everything she needed to know. Alice was dying, her leg was badly infected and who knows how bad it was internally or how much longer a human had. Maci had to hold herself together as she watched July frantically panic about removing her helmet in the process, leaning over to Alice and telling her everything is going to be ok while her partner screams in pure agony and pain.

No one could do anything, Alice was rocking back and forth on the ground from side to side, her back arched, her eyes shut tightly closed, her face paler then a ghost and a thick layer of sweat beaded across her face with possible tears as well. July was doing her best to try and mend the wound but they didn't have much for a first aid. In fact their suits where their primary first aid to be honest, all they had was an old torn bandage now, everything else had been destroyed along the way. Judge and Voras decided to take up watch post over the group in hopes they would find Rio soon coming back. Their biggest problem was that Alice was making a lot of sounds which if enemies where nearby they would have been alerted by now to their current location.

 _"Oh no oh no oh no!"_ July said as she panicked putting her hands on her head.

She was distraught, exhausted, Maci would even say feverish with her actions and attitude but Maci couldn't predict what was to come next as she stood silently watching over the two Spartans wishing she knew more about the human anatomy and their medical aids so she could only help. However July stood up and turned to Maci, her face was red, with a look of frustration but sadness as well, her eyes glazed as wet trails of tears went down her face rubbing her thick eye makeup down her cheeks. Maci couldn't truly describe it, the look in those human female eyes, but she wanted to, she wanted to help.

 _"We need to cut her leg off"_ July's voice was cracked as if the words could barely get out.

That was all the warning Maci had before the female Spartan Launched herself at Maci tackling her to the ground. Stunned by the commotion Maci felt her ears ring for a faint second as she came back to it, the rubble behind her had been but a minor problem as it poked into her sides and back as Maci gasped getting to her feet as fast as she could. In both her hands July activated the energy blade as Maci quickly put her hands on hilts, noticing that one was now missing. Fear overcome Maci as she stood too stunned to say or do anything as July dropped to her knees, the energy sword in her hands held high above her head as she let out a strange yelling sound of mixed emotions with rage and sadness before driving the blade down. Maci did not understand the humans or their ways, the look of July's face, her pained scream of anger, rage but sadness and sorrow as she drove the blade downwards with all her might.

 **~Seven years ago~**

 _Alarm bells ran out with yellow lights flashing high above on the ceiling as the young Spartan Cadet dashed between the training grounds leaping over the large cement blocks rising up and down. The young female Spartan Cadet with long black Hair dashed through her objectives with quick speed as she hurdled herself over a jump and looked up at the finish line, her pale skin glowed with hope and victory beneath her helmet, her eyes sparkled with pride but she had forgotten to land properly as she dashed forward stumbling as she caught the tip of her boots on the ground. She had been trying to get use to her bulky suit but it in the end was her downfall as she watched the finish line disappear and the metal grid ground comes into view as she collided with the floor. Footsteps dashed passed her as she clenched her fists and looked up watching the other Cadets run out and calling in victory._

 _Tears streamed down the young woman's face as she turned her shame on herself for her minor mistake. She could have gotten up and finished, but she felt that she wasn't worthy as she heard her fellow friends and roommates dash past her. This was her final test, she had been a head of them all this time, and only because of one minor little mistake, it all comes crashing down. Then the woman heard an odd set of footsteps along her side, they were not running rather they had landed and started to walk. July looked up as she watched another Spartan lean down and extended her hand out towards her. July had not seen this woman before as she took her hand and was lifted back up on her feet._

 ** _"We Will cross this together."_** _The other Spartan said with a pat on her back and began to jog forward._

 _July didn't know what to say or why but she began to jog after this mystery Spartan cadet whose identity was concealed behind her helmet. July crossed that finish line; she didn't cheer or yell but she kept running following this mysterious cadet until they stopped. July pulled her helmet off and walked to the other Spartans side. Her name was being called somewhere in the distance but she didn't care as she watched the other cadet raise her helmet up over her head and revealing striking green eyes and long lush red hair done up in a ponytail. She was beautiful, remarkable as July stood stunned._

 ** _"See you in the cafeteria"_** _Said the strange woman in a chirpy voice before she dashed off._

 _A Hand from behind July made her jump as she turned around to see her trainer, they were smiling, their hand extended out as July looked them up and down still bewildered by what was going on. The Other Cadets where still coming in and finishing before a loud beeping sound went off to say that those that did not reach the line had failed. July looked at them and then back to her trainer unsure of what had happened, still her mind imagining those striking green eyes, clearly smitten beyond her wilds._

 ** _"Congratulations July."_** _Said the Asian looking woman in a white overcoat with a data pad in her other hand._ _ **"You're officially a Spartan."**_

 _It was such good news to hear that July was almost in tears, she didn't scream or yell though, she simply shook her trainers hand and headed off, her mind on one thing, getting to the cafeteria asap. By the time July had, she came in to see a whole bunch of other Spartans, the men joking around acting tough as always, but there was one Spartan with red hair and green eyes that caught July's attention as she made a beeline towards the other Spartan and sat down, forgetting to get her own meal in the process._

 ** _"Hey you! Congrats! But uh…Aren't you a little hungry?"_** _Said the red headed woman in a cocky tone pointing to the empty space in front of July._

 ** _"OH…Um..YES!"_** _July said as she stood up right and looked around a little panicked and awkward._ _ **"Ahhhh….I will get my meal..yes…Um…"**_ _July paused and looked around now noticing how awkward this situation was with a few other Spartans now looking in her direction._

 ** _"Ha ha take a seat, I'll make sure that Rio kid gets you some. He just passed as well. So whats you're name Officially Spartan?"_** _The red headed woman said with a quirky smile on her face as July sat back down._

 ** _"Um…July?"_** _She said softly a little nervous in the presences of such a beautiful woman._

 ** _"July Huh? That's a nice name, Mines Alice"_** _The woman said proudly pointing to herself._ _ **"Official Spartan Alice!"**_ _She seemed to mock at first as the two began to laugh._

 _They talked for a while before another Spartan joined them giving July a platter of food. The guy was Rio, Alice introduced him but he seemed very quiet, not shy quiet, but strange quiet. He didn't look at anyone, he only ate a piece of bread and didn't even get himself a drink, he seemed mindless as July smiled and congratulated him as well on becoming a Spartan too. But Rio never said a single word, he kept to himself. Though Alice and July didn't mind as they went on about their life story. Turns out Alice wanted to study Sangheili Culture and decided to become a Spartan in hopes of traveling to Sanghelios, whereas July had joined to protect and be able to help heal those in times of need. They had a common thing though; they both joined because they had lost their families and they wanted to make a difference, not just to fight like the pig headed brutes of men barfing in the background._

 _After an hour had passed, the two remained talking and eventually they went off to their dorm rooms but not without sneaking in a kiss. They were both smitten by each other, they knew the next day they would be assigned to a veteran officer that had seen combat before them and that they would get their first real experience at combat on a new mission. It was all promises and new hopes for them, they never foreseen themselves killing people, having to do work for ONI on the side, they never knew that they would have to lie and keep secrets from the rest of the world, honouring a code of Silence._ _ **They never knew the cost of being a Spartan, until they really were Spartans.**_

 **~Present~**

One final Gasp was given as July ended Alice's life, tears streaming down her face as the energy blade she held was now embedded in Alice's chest. Maci was struck in her tracks by Judge as he put a hand to her shoulder and looked over at July. She was screaming and crying, Maci didn't understand. Why did she have to kill Alice? Didn't she say that she was going to cut off her leg? Taken aback by the strange situation of events Maci withdrew and let Judge be the one to comfort July. Voras still stood guard as Maci wondered up towards over the pile of rubble that surrounded them as Maci approached Voras whom only looked out into the distant horizon. The Wind Chime still chimed, but it seemed softer now as the wind had slowed to a moderate breeze.

"Humans have their own ways of dealing with Death…I'm surprised that it come to this though." Voras said not breaking his trained sight in the distance.

Looking up at him Maci questioned it herself, she knew that when she had almost lost Zuka she was much the same, but even then Maci would have rather protect her mate then kill him. With a long deep breath in Maci exhaled breathing out through her mouth as she sighed and closed her eyes. She wasn't good at this whole thing, she was still new to it all but she knew she would learn from it as she sucked it all up and opened her eyes looking out at the horizon. The sky was getting darker now; the clouds had come back over covering any sunlight that would have been starting to set. They would need to rest for the night and that would mean finding shelter, hopefully Rio would have found a place by now after hours of scouting.

"Do you think we got what we came for?" Maci softly said not looking up at Voras.

"No I do not. But we got something totally different. It's too dangerous out here. Epically for your own safety we must head back." Voras said as he paused and then pointed out towards a large collapsing tower. "Do you see that? That is where we must go. Its half an hours walk from here, we can make it in time before it's too dark, set up a beacon and wait for someone to come. " Voras said informing Maci.

She nodded in agreement understanding that there was no need to fight a fight that was not their own, they were only meant to gather information and Maci knew that this information involved all species, not just one or the other, and that they had some device capable of glassing football fields almost, maybe more. It was too dangerous and looking back over her shoulder Maci knew that they didn't need to lose anyone else. Not like this.

 **"There!"** Voras pointed out towards a moving object.

Maci stood tensely as she grasped her energy blade looking onwards until the object came into clearer view. To her relief it was Rio, but something seemed wrong, he wasn't jogging, he was sprinting, moving much faster than Maci had seen him before as he leaped over rubble and made a direct bee line towards the two. Maci looked out and around him wondering what it was that had him rushing to them so fast, maybe it was good news, but as the Spartan came up and bolted passed the two Sangheili and ran towards Judge, Maci lost all sense of hope.

 _"_ _ **REBELS!**_ _A large scale of them. They are coming! We don't have time to reach the towers. We need to get out of here ASAP!"_ Rio screeched.

 _"They must have heard us."_ Judge said as he grabbed July by the arm and lifted her up.

 _"_ _ **NO!**_ _I've been out there for hours, it happened before the screams, I saw them coming here so I came back as fast as I could taking a few detours. I don't know how much time we have but they will be here soon…real soon!"_ Rio panted as his words sounded panicked.

Voras didn't move from his spot in fact he began to scan the area and look around. With a deep breath in Maci came down to the Spartans and pulled her energy sword from the fallen Spartan. Rio didn't care, he seemed to ignore the fact Alice was dead and it made Maci wonder why? Wouldn't a human be shocked especially someone like Rio? July sniffled and dried her tears before getting her helmet back on her head, she didn't take anything from Alice, but merely pulled out her rifle and prepared. Judge on the other hand looked around them.

" _That's impossible! We have been keeping an eye out for hours now. They couldn't have found us….we didn't leave any tracks….we…"_ Judge paused.

Everyone paused, the sound of something clicking in the distance made them look around then with a loud thud a human grenade landed before their feet. There wasn't much time as Maci jumped back trying to get cover before the loud explosion went off pushing Maci off balance as she slammed to the ground. The wind chime could not be heard anymore, replaced by the screams of a hoard coming for them. Getting to her feet Maci looked around, they were ambushed; they would have to fight for their lives as their enemies, humans, kig-yar, grunts, brutes, sangheili. Every species known in the galaxy stood before them all circling around them, their faces contorted with the look of rage and lust for blood.

Slowly Maci got to her feet, everyone backed up so their backs faced each other, their eyes upon their enemies. Judge, Rio and July pulled out their rifles; Voras pulled out his plasma pistol with his last grenade in his other hand ready to activate it while Maci activated both of her blades and took in a long deep breath. This was it; this was what she had been preparing herself for as she felt her hearts in her chest race, her eyes trailing over each and every one single being before her. They had come out from the rubble, well hidden by the rough looking clothing and horridly formed armour. Only one thing came to mind. The Turncoat had given them all away. This was too perfectly set up to have just been a simple attack; it was tactical, planned out and well thought. The enemy wasn't even out of breath from running which told Maci they had been set up waiting for them, waiting for the perfect moment.

 _"On my mark, we fire."_ Judge softly whispered to them.

Outnumbered and out gunned it was a win-lose situation, but Maci wasn't going to lose, she couldn't lose, this was **her time**.

* * *

 **A/n:** So this is a chapter thats got a lot of emotions in it. I wanted to emphazies on the Alice and July relationship since Spartans are never seen as couples but more friends or a team, not to mention equality, so I wanted to have a same sex couple that cared and loved each other until the very end. The reason for July's decision is unknown. But the next chapter will be a real tipping point for Maci.


	9. The Turncoat

**Edited Notes:** I owe a VERY big thank you to my Friend Predman1227 for helping me Edit this chapter and make it far more better then the original as well as inspire me to add in far more detailing into my works.

* * *

 **Name: Maci Durramee**  
 **Year: 2564 June**  
 **Gender: Female**  
 **Age:26**  
 **Rank: Minor**  
 **Location: Unknown Warzone, Sanghelios**

 **The Turncoat**

It all felt so surreal, as Sangheili, Unggoy, Kig Yar and even Humans came rushing at them, firing Assault rifles, some plasma pistols and all sorts of standard militia weaponry. No fuel rods, no grenades, not even Energy Blades, just crude but deadly ballistic weapons. Raising her dual blades, Maci reflected the incoming projectiles raining down upon her, while at he same time, running full speed at the swarm.

She let out a deep-throated primal roar, as she charged and leapt at the nearest enemy. A scruffy looking human male with a dirty set of old UNSC armour and mud smeared over his middle aged face, had only a spit second to cry out in shocked surprise, before Maci brought down her right sword in an angle, cleaving right through his left shoulder and the rest of his body. Blood hissed and popped, as Maci cleaved through another less armoured human, that came at her with a crude knife, then she cut down two more enemies that at charged at her with Bayonets on the ends of their Rifles.

How foolish of them, to run towards an opponent that wielded Energy Swords, with such primitive weapons, was close to insane. This baffled Maci but only for a moment, as they just kept on coming, not caring for their lives as she cut them down. She took a shot to the left and kicked out in response, connecting with a Kig Yar's midsection and sending him tumbling back through the gravel and dirt. An Unggoy, who seemed to have lost his weapon, flung himself at Maci's legs and tried to bring her down by punching her knees. This only ended in the small alien's head being cut clean from his shoulders and rolling off into the mob that just seemed endless. Cutting, slicing, blocking, kicking and stabbing in all directions, Maci's body was fuelled with adrenaline as the blood of her enemies splashed across her face and drenched her armour in a multitude of colours.

Voras charged at his enemies with a bellowing war cry, slamming his way into the mob, punching and kicking, tossing his last grenade and blowing a large chunk of the mob up in a bright blue flash of raw plasma. His shields dinged and flared with incoming fire but he went on fighting, firing his plasma pistol till it overheated. But it didn't slow him, as he grabbed a Kig Yar by the throat, took a crude curved blade from him and slammed him down into the dirt. It tried to stand back up but Voras bought his book down hard on the alien's skull, then with another battle cry, he charged back into the fray.

Judge too with no other option and no cover, shoulder barged his way into the mix, his shields flashing with bullet impacts and hand to hand blows to close combatants. But even with the hits he took he gave them out harder, smashing and crippling the bodies of his foes with his bio-augmented strength.

July, exhausted from the grief of Alice's death, struggled as she tried hard to fight back. Her gun jammed after the first few shots, possibly clogged up with dirt from their surroundings and only had a split second to barely move out the way of a Sangheili barrelling toward her. Using her rifle as a crude club, she smashed it hard with all her Spartan might, into the Sangheili's jaws as he turned and sent his lifeless corps spinning into a pile of rumble. She didn't get a chance to catch her breath, when another Sangheili, bigger this time, came charging at her and this time she wasn't quick enough as he slammed into her with all his bulk and sent them tumbling through the dust and dirt.

The dust, it was like a thick fog now, obscuring Maci's vision, as she charged at some other Sangheili, two to be exact and the couple staggered backwards in startled surprise, trying to get a bead on her. But it was useless as purple blood sprayed Maci's face as she slashed horizontally across the male's throat. The second Sangheili, this one a female to Maci's shock, came screaming at her, enraged with tears in her eyes. With nothing but her own two arms, the female jumped on Maci and they fell to the ground in a heap, kicking up even more dust to add the already massive cloud.

The female roared in a primal rage at the death of her mate and tried to tear out Maci's throat with her bare hands. It felt so wrong, so very wrong, but it had to be done, as Maci managed to wriggled out of her grasp and kick her off of her, sending the female plummeting to the ground as she gasped for air. Before she could recover, Maci sprang up and embedded one of her swords in the female's stomach and the female only managed to suck in a wheezing gasp, before she lent limp and gurgled her last.

Yanking her blade free of the now dead female, Maci took a few steps back and panted while she looked around. It was at that point Maci noticed something strange. From within the fog she could hear July gasp and grunt, could hear Judge yell and toss insults around and could hear Voras's growling, roaring and grunting as he killed his way through the enemies, but Maci…Couldn't hear Rio.

At first she thought he was dead, as her bright blue eyes scanned around for his body. There must have been more than 50 or 60 of them, it was like a damn hoard that never ended. She heard a bang from behind her and Maci swatted a bullet out of the air and charged at a lone human that was trying to blend in by some nearby rubble, cutting him near in half.

The bodies, they filled the ground around her as she struggled to find a solid footing. The dust blinded her as she tried to see her way through, a grunt came running out of the cloud at her, and in response she kicked him back with little effort, ending his little life as his neck snapped back.

Panting heavily now, Maci stumbled slightly on a body as she looked around for anymore enemies but saw none. She could hear them however, battling with the others. She was about to go aid them when, she heard something else, soft boots crunching on gravel, and it was heading toward her. She turned to see a slim figure emerging from the red mist and couldn't believe her eyes. It was Rio, and he was…clapping?

"And here we are" He said in a cocky tone, as he stopped a few feet in front of her. "The Tragic tale of Maci Durramee…The Weapon, as Alice or July called you, meeting a dull end."

For a moment, Maci was confused, her mind a haze from all the bloodshed and fighting. "W-What did you say?" She stammered, thinking she misheard him.

Rio, was completely untouched by the fight, his hands fiddled between one another as he stood strong and proud. Some rebels ran passed him, barely visible in the dust cloud but close enough to see them. Yet they weren't attacking him, not even paying attention him, as they continued to run off to another battle. That's when it all clicked. It wasn't Judge, or July or even Voras for that matter. It was Rio…he had been the turncoat, he had been the traitor among them along.

Maci couldn't believe it, as she stared at him wide eyed. "It was you!?" She said in shock, as she pointed one of her blades at him, allowing a faint snarl like sound to escape her mandibles. "You were the Turncoat!?"

The enemies around her stopped coming after her, it was like this had been set up, like as if Rio wanted to kill Maci himself or maybe watch her fall as she looked at him confused, mad and stunned. The Spartan only shrugged as if this was all but a mere game to him. He must have planned this ambush and it made sense, only the insider would know their current location and situation, Rio had been the only one scouting and it seemed to fit. But what about before? How had he managed to attack them last night? Maybe this was just a game the Spartans where playing but it didn't make any sense, as Maci thought to herself.

Rio chuckled, catching her attention once more. He paced slightly, walking back and forth from side to side, as he made gestures with his hand. "You see Maci my dear, I never meant to hurt you. But it makes perfect sense doesn't it? Four Spartans go to Sanghelios to gather information, they run into two Sangheili out of the blue and get ambushed, leaving only one Spartan survivor." He chuckled again. "Sounds like Sangheili want to fight again right?" Rio said in a sadistic voice as he continued to softly laughed.

Maci glared at Rio, gripping the hilts of her blades just a little tighter. "You will not get away with this, RIO!" Maci snarled as she started forward and then charged at the Spartan. "I will NOT ALLOW IT!"

He didn't dodge her, he only raised his left arm up and activated some sort of energy shield that blocked her attack dead in its tracks. She stumbled back from this surprise and hissed with a guttural snarl. The Shield was strong enough to block her blade. This was going to be a problem, as she began to circle around Rio, whom didn't seemed phased at all by her intimidation as he deactivated the shield and seemed to dust himself off as he followed her motion.

The two circled each other for a moment, not saying a word as they eyed one another. Then Rio decided to speak up and his voice only served to anger her further.

"Let me tell you something split lip…Do you know what it's like to be told what to do every single day of your life? To have the only person that is meant to be there to protect you to actually be the one to hurt you huh?" Rio said and softly shrugged. "No, I guess you aliens wouldn't, because you don't feel." He pointed a gloved finger at Maci. "My Father was a Drunk. Every day he would go out and work in the mines for hours and hours, then back come home hours after dark to poor little Rio, whom was starving, wore old clothes and barely had anything to his name."

Rio paused again and looked at Maci directly now, taking his helmet off. " Do you know why poor little Rio was hungry and poor? It wasn't because Big Daddy was drinking his life away, but it was because you. You monsters came and took Little Rio's future away." He smirked at Maci. "That's right, I was there, on that Planet before your kind attacked Earth. I watched my sweet Mamia die, poor Little Rio. But the thing is…" Rio paused again and shrugged, raising his hands up in the air to only drop his helmet to the dusty dirty ground as if it didn't matter anymore.

"No one gave a damn about poor little Rio. No one cared when he got raped, or beaten; no one cared when he tried to be a better person, to do what's right!" He stopped moving and so did Maci. "So Poor Rio grew up and became a Spartan, hoping and waiting for this day to come. To make you aliens the bad guys. You know Rio is a good person right, he's not bad." He paused and smirked with a toothy grin that Maci did not understand.

"I do not care what you are any more." Maci sneered; her anger was boiling to unbearable levels now. "I've had enough of hearing you're story!" Maci roared as she launched herself at Rio with both her blades this time.

Of course Rio activated his shield again which Maci's left hand took the brunt of, but he forgot her right hand as she swished it in behind the shield, almost piercing him in his right arm but Rio jumped back. He merely laughed at this as he began to drop his pistol and rifle and pull out from behind his back a hilt of his own energy sword. He waved it in the air at Maci as if she hadn't noticed it before and he activated the white glowing blade, made perfectly for human hands.

"Oh yeah they gave me this nifty little toy. Now you Must Obey you're code right? It's a Duel, and Poor Rio is going to send you to Alien hell ok?" Maci readied herself and got into a fighting stance. "Good because Rio has been locked away for too long, playing your games, its time you play Rios." He nodded to himself, insanely pointing the sword at Maci with a twisted smile on his face and eyes that had a hint of blood lust and insanity.

"If that is so, then tell me are you the one behind this? All of this?" Maci said as she pointed around them refereeing to the rebellion.

He portended to look shocked, as he twirled his blade. "Little Ole Rio? Oh of course not, Rio merely aided him, he is a nice guy, Rio likes him, you….he wants you gone, doesn't like Sangheili like you, Rio agrees, Rio thinks you're too stubborn in your traditions, swishing those majestic blades around like as if you know what you're doing and doing it in honour." He made a tut sound and waved his blade. "Oh Rio hates that. Rio prefer to give out your current location and earn some nice cash that not even Oni could give Rio" He laughed, his voice still so oddly chirpy in that sadistic way.

Then just like that he used his jetpack to boost himself across over at Maci as he hit with striking force as if she was fighting a strong large Sangheili Male or Brute. She was a little startled by this but it had been something she was expecting, as she merely blocked his attack with her own blades, locking his in a cross-guard and raising his up and above his head. The shield only covered half of him, which was foolish. With his sword hand above his head and Maci with her two hands above her own, she had a perfectly good opening to kicked out at him and ensuring her talons scratched the surface of his skinsuit, cutting through and piercing his skin.

Rio backed up fast disengaging their locked state and looked at the crimson blood as it began to ooze out from his new wound. Though he only looked up at Maci and laughed. "Tis but a flesh wound." He said mocking something she had no idea about.

Didn't take long for him to come crashing back at her again as she swatted his shield hand in time, deactivating it with her strike and forcing him to use his sword as his only defence. He was good, his footwork was on point as he blocked each of her blades as they came down upon him, and his parries were impressive, as he tried to disarm her, but it was worthless. He had a fatale flaw; he had no technique, using his blade more like a club, rather than a blade that was an extension of his soul.

Maci took advantage of this fatale flaw and pressed her attack, parrying and countering his every strike. Rio suddenly looked a little less confident now, as he backed up and kept backing up as Maci kept brining the heat, not giving him any room to breath.

"You lack, Honour, and you lack Discipline!" Maci barked as she slammed both of her energy blades down upon his single sword, making sparks dance and crackle in the air.

Rio struggled to hold her off as he looked up at her, the large energy swords coming closer and closer to his head head, his face turning pale, and his eyes turning bloodshot.

However, Maci didn't know how long it took for his shield to reactivate and she was too late when it did, as Rio reactivated his shield and knocked Maci back hitting her in the face. With a chuckle Rio shook his head as Maci steadied herself and snorted. She wasn't done yet, not by a long shot she wasn't completely exhausted. A pained yell caught her attention and she looked passed Rio to see July in the distance. The dust had cleared just enough for Maci to see her, and what Maci saw shook her to the core.

July was on her knees before the Sangheili she had been fighting, with his hand pierced through her skinsuit and ripping out her internal organs. She didn't scream, she only made an odd gasping sound, her eyes rolling back into her head as she twitched her last. Apart of Maci wanted to yell, wanted to save her, but that wasn't her fight as Rio glanced to where she was looking.

He chuckled at the sight and Maci felt her anger boiling over, kindling a darkness within her, brining it to light. "I hopped that it wasn't you. I thought maybe it was Judge, but I was wrong." Maci said in a sad yet toneless voice. "I seem to always trust the wrong people, but that's ok…because little Rio wasn't cared for!" Maci bitterly said as she snarled, baring her teeth and tossing aside her emotions and feelings.

This enraged Rio as he yelled at Maci and he charged full force at her. Maci charged at him as well, tossing aside one of her blades as she leaped into the air with one blade now. Rio did the same, it was Sangheili tradition to parry one another, send the weakest enemy flying back with pure force and strength to claim victory as Maci smashed her sword down against his.

Rio wasn't strong enough as the force knocked him back, he hit the ground smashing his left gauntlet against a rock, destroying his shield. His energy sword was still in his grasp as he gasped and struggled to sit up. Around his eyes where thick black veins as Maci landed and walked slowly towards the Spartan.

"What have you done to me!?" He yelled at her, his eyes so dilated they didn't look remotely human.

Maci stopped and stood over the weakling, looking down on him with no remorse. "My talons are coated in a poison that destroys the blood cells and the Lymph system." She stated in a deadpan tone, her eyes as cold as a predator's. "It works its way towards the heart. Once it's there, it's pumped out, slowly killing off all other cells, taking over the brain and killing off all nervous systems. Its slow, its painful, and it doesn't stop the heart, it continues to pump out until you are paralysed, until you are no longer yourself, till you can't control your own body and then you slowly decay…I'll be honest you lasted a lot longer than others, perhaps because you are a Spartan, or maybe you were a worthy foe. Either way this is the end." Maci said in an all too calm voice as she took in a deep breath, looking into Rio's eyes.

She trusted him, she believed in him, she thought he was kind, just like Jagoree, just like everyone else. But now, she didn't feel the pain or the guilt, not even the rage as she drew her blade up and thrust it down on his chest. Just when she thought it was finished, at the last second, Rio smacked the blade to the side with his own and then kicked her in the leg, sending her off balance. Then, while she was stunned, he got back up with the last of his strength and delivered a quick upwards strike with his blade to Maci's right eye. The blade just barely missed her actually eyeball, but its tip did cut right through the lip of her helm and bit a shallow scar into the skin of her right brow.

She barely noticed the burning pain, it was swallowed bay her returning rage and in one swift move, she stabbed him right through his traitorous heart. All sense of hope and mercy disappeared in Rio's eyes; everything was gone right before him in a single flash of white and blue. The man named Rio gasped with his mouth wide open; he had tried to stop her, but his hands where too late as he fell lifeless to his sides. Then she pushed him, freeing her blade and letting his body flop down on the bloodstained ground with the various other traitors to all civilization.

He fought hard, he fought well, and Maci honoured that with a clean kill as she looked at the blade, coated in his blood, watching the small crimson droplets dissipate into mere mist surrounding the blade.

Her eye throbbed, but she didn't care, as she took a moment to look down on Rio's corps. "You fought well, but the one you served will pay. Your efforts were flawed, so you failed." Maci said, with no emotion in her tone.

Turning her back, Maci grabbed her Energy Blade she had tossed aside and looked up as she watched Voras run towards her. He was exhausted, his shield spat and sputtered, and his armour was cracked and damaged as he grabbed Maci by the side, a look of fear in his eyes.

Maci did not know why, she wanted to keep fighting as she looked to the small grunt that came cashing after him. Pushing Voras aside Maci charged at the grunt slamming her sword down upon the grunt as she looked around and then back to Voras. He seemed to look at her differently now as she snarled and then looked back around them. The dust around them had thickened again, the body count only growing as Maci realized this was probably the end.

"We need to leave!" Voras said sharply in a soft tone.

"What of Judge?" Maci said as she tried to look for the lone Spartan.

Voras put a hand to her shoulder and took in a long, deep breath. "Maci this is an order, we need to leave now!" His tone was weak but even so, it still held that faint hint of being bitter and stern and that was all he needed to say as Maci took in a deep breath and turned, following him out of that forsaken place.

As they scaled up the side of the rubble and out of what was like a pit now filling with dead bodies, Maci didn't look back as she heard a painful scream come from behind, it was Judge, he was at his end as Maci ran after Voras. It wasn't long before a large explosion went off, the sounds of battle ended there, but their journey did not, as Voras, injured as he may be, continued to run, night was falling upon them as they ran towards the tower. But they were blinded by the darkness.

They were too weak now, as Voras stumbled trying to get to his feet. Maci grabbed him and helped him up, looking him up and down. If they came into contact with more enemies they would be as good as dead as Maci looked behind them. She couldn't see anyone as she took in another long deep breath, preparing the words in her mind before turning back to Voras to say them.

"We need to find shelter. We can't make it to the Towers in time, not like this. We need to rest" Maci's voice was soft in the dark of the night, but they held a sense of authority to them as she looked the injured Male right in the eyes, as Voras merely nodded in agreement.

Together they walked in the darkness, not knowing entirely where they were headed, but far away from the fighting area as Maci supported Voras with his arm over her shoulder. They found shelter in a rundown house that was covered by rubble, all but a small hole, just big enough for the two of them to fit in. It was a tight squeeze, but they managed and soon, they sat down on an old dusty rug and finally eased up.

In the darkness they sat and waited, Voras decided to lean against a wall and eventually had fallen asleep while Maci kept an eye out. The fight had left her emotionless, she didn't want to think about it, nor complain as she looked over herself, her armour was still in good condition, save her helm and her shield was still regenerating after her duel with Rio. But the wound on her eye still throbbed. She undone her helmet's strap and slowly took it off. It hurt even more as a shooting pain shot through her brow, but at least it wouldn't rub of it now. She looked at her helm for a moment, ran one thumb across the blackened mark Rio had left. She wondered if the wound would leave a mark on her face. It didn't matter though, it would heal, they had all night to sleep and regain themselves as Maci realized that they had a far bigger problem.

Rio kept saying He or Him, which meant there was one person in charge of this whole rebellion, go figure as Maci scoffed to herself. Either way Maci knew that they were looking for a male, someone that could holds the status of leader, probably be feared or maybe respected but someone with enough financial support to be able to get this many weapons and this many species to work along side each other. But Why Sanghelios? Why this planet above all others? Was it to start another war again with the Humans and Sangheili?

For hours Maci spent thinking over things, she knew that if she had of let Rio live he would have just been a waste of air. He probably wouldn't have said a single word, but he seemed strange, always speaking in third person which Maci didn't know why but she decided to put it aside for the night as she found a large cement piece of rubble and put it over the hole they had come through. Now in complete darkness with her armour's lights turned off, she leaned back and rested, closing her eyes only to listen and feel. But by the time Voras had awoken to take over the watch for a while, there had been no movement, no sounds, and no vibrations. Their enemies must have gone, but either way Maci knew that if Rio had of said anything to the enemy then they would have known they were going to the Tower to signal for help.

Maybe the enemies went there or by luck maybe they were presumed dead.

* * *

 **A/n** : So this is probably a much more bigger sort of battle then anything Maci has really faced and she kind of changes in the process of the fight compared to other times. Its the start of her truly realizing who and what she is and what she can do making her an honourable warrior. The Next chapter will not be really letting you come down from the high, theres still a lot going on but you get to know a bit more about the Mission and the extent of their situation.


	10. Defined Destiny

Name: Maci Durramee

Year: 2564 June

Gender: Female

Age:26

Rank: Minor

Location: Unknown Warzone, Sanghelios

Defined Destiny

In the Dark dingy, dusty and stale cold half destroyed housing, Maci and Voras had barricaded themselves in. For some time now, Maci sat thinking to herself while Voras stirred every now and then, but Maci watched over him like a mother Donara, a colourful ground bird with four jaws.

She understood now more than ever that team work is a vital part to any mission, even one that was as simple as this, before things became chaotic. Both Sangheili's needed to be fully rested before venturing out into battlefield; they needed to be prepared for anything and everything. Small rays of light seeped in through the cracks in the roof and on the wall letting in the faintest bit of lighting and fresh air, but it didn't help the overcoming sensation of loss and death as Maci's emotions where finally starting to catch up with her.

With a faint sigh she raised her hand up softly touching the sensitive wound over her eye as she hissed at the sudden sensation of the flash of pain spreading across her face. On the plus side she still had an eye, which in itself was a form of relief. It wasn't a life threatening injury either which meant Maci was still able to go on with their mission as she drew in a deep breath and tried to close her eyes gently despite the unpleasant stinging.

She recalled how brave Rio had been, his final attempt to fight back even though he knew that deep down he had lost, he still managed to put up one last bit of a fight and catch Maci off guard, cutting up the side of her face only to briefly graze her. The wound would heal but the scar will not, to stay and serve as a reminder to always second-guess everyone…even if it's someone you trust but not quite know well.

Around them and the building they were hauled up in, there was nothing but mere silence. No movement outside or sensation of vibrations, it was as if the battle had ended completely after they had left, perhaps Judge had thought his plan through well enough and killed most of them if not all. However this building silenced them, they could not hear the wind or any other sounds, it was all too quiet, as Maci looked around with the little sunlight that was coming in.

There wasn't much, just little bits of cement, rocks, and old fabric material well past its age that was now dirty and pock marked with holes. In her corner, Maci remained still as she shifted a bit on the wall she was leaning against, thinking over things. Maybe the bird in the sky was a signal, a signal for them to be positioned for a perfect ambush, maybe Rio didn't need to make direct contact, that night to set them up, after all it would make perfect sense would it not? Then the following day while out Scouting he could have easily given out their location and where they were headed. It was perfectly planned so all the enemies had to do was sit and wait silently in the rubble, they would have avoided being detected so easily and just had to wait for Rio to return, Rio being the signal to begin the attack. Yet what didn't make sense was why did Rio change his way? Had he truly been someone else, playing a game?

A question Maci would never understand or find the answer to, the four Spartans were all dead now. First Alice from the infection, July from her heart ache unable to fight and caved in, Judge's suicide to save both Voras and Maci and Rio? Rio challenged her, it was a fight won fairly in Sangheili Honour. In the battle of heat, a Sangheili whom is challenged and wins is rewarded by going up a rank but Maci did not care about rank. She did it because she knew he had to be stopped, because she knew that by that point he was nothing more than pure evil and he would have started a war that would have claimed many innocent lives on both Human and Sangheili sides.

Taking in a long deep breath, Maci looked over at Voras as he came back to it from his sleep. He made a faint grumble sound as he sat up straight and yawned faintly, his eyes looked dazed and tired, Maci didn't know how much longer they needed to wait, but she was willing to wait a bit longer, she was patient.

He dully looked about the faintly lit room, till his weary eyes fixed on Maci, sitting in her corner. "Have you been sitting there staring at me this whole time?" Voras faintly grumbled, shaking his head a bit to clear his mind, as he slurred his words.

Maci just shrugged glumly, flicking a bit of rubble off one of her knees. "I've been thinking." Maci retorted in a stoic tone, her eyes never moving from his.

"That is dangerous." Voras mocked, as he stretched his arms up as best he could, without irritating his wounds. "What have you been thinking about?" Faintly he questioned, rolling his neck back till it cricked in the process.

"Rio…He betrayed us, he was the turncoat." She clenched one of her fists, as she felt her hate start to fester. "He sacrificed his own friends for his own foolish cause, but if you ask me I do not think he thought of them as even living beings. I think his mind was corrupted from being broken over and over again," She shook her head, closing her eyes briefly, "He just wanted to prove something…to someone…to anyone." She took in another deep breath, letting herself relax in her little corner, as memories of Rio flashed in her head.

Voras raised his Brows, surprised to hear that as he cleared his throat. "Rio huh? I will say I did not expect it to be him, but I was unsure whom to target. No one showed any signs." He looked away in thought, gazing at the ground. "I guess in a situation like that all you can do is spring the trap and wait for the culprit to be revealed." Softly, Voras chuckled to himself as he finally relaxed more, awake but still thinking.

There was a pause in the air, but Maci had to let out what she was thinking, so after a moment, she continued. "When I was fighting him, he said something about their leader, a he, wanting me dead, that I am some kind of problem." She let out a puff of air that sounded like a grunt. "I now know that whomever this leader is a male."

She gestured to the roof as she emphasised her words. "Sticking to our objective, this should be more than enough information to pass on to the council. But…Rio said he wanted to start a war, a war between Sangheili and mankind. It's not clear if that was just Rio's personal beliefs and ideas or if that is indeed the leaders." Maci sighed, unsure of anything now. She tilted her head up to the ceiling and closed her eyes, her words intended more for herself then for Voras.

Oddly enough the older male made a faint sigh like sound and rubbed under his helmet on his brows. She opened her eyes again and looked over at him unsure as to why he was acting so strange. As if caught in the middle of doing something wrong Maci cocked her head and eyed Voras up and down before he finally looked up and caught her eye. It was an odd look, not one of peace or anger, somewhere in between, maybe it was a touch of regret, as Maci sat patiently, her brows raised slightly knowing there was more to this then she believed.

Voras was quiet for a moment, she could tell he was pondering something. Then he spoke up and when he did she detected a hint of uncertainty. "This mission, I was told that there had been numerous attacks out here. I was to take you and gather as much information we could." He shifted a little as he continued, "I needed to be able to identify what we were up against, what raider group it was, but it wasn't just raiders, it's much more than that. I knew that they were transporting a weapon in that cargo truck, but I didn't say anything to you, I knew if I told you, you would be forced to keep it secret, unable to tell the world." Maci widened her eyes at this, her mind no longer wondering. He shook his head. "All you needed was experience and to be checked off as being able to obey." He chuckled. "Criminal standard if you ask me. But…" Voras paused and lowered his gaze. "I was told that the leader was a councillor member of the Sangheili court."

Maci shifted her body in a sudden way that made Voras put up a hand, not in fear but to halt any outburst from her, "I knew if I said too much about the mission you would be caught up in all of this, unable to truly live. Your records show you have a family of your own, that is why I said what I said, because living this life, it doesn't put you at risk, but them as well."

Maci paused, unsure how to react. Voras put a hand on his damaged chest plate. "I lost my family in the war, the Civil war. I fought against my own friends just to protect them…It's why I stopped believing in good Sangheili, in good warriors. Because at the end of the day it's based upon your own feelings and beliefs…nothing else." Varos hissed and shook his head with a touch of sympathy and sorrow evident in his aged face.

Taking in a long deep breath, Maci closed her eyes for a brief moment taking in all that he had said, she understood him now, more than ever, more than before. He was afraid she would go through the same process of pain and hardship; it was why he was so closed off to her because he was afraid, afraid to lose again. Opening her eyes, Maci looked at Voras, he did not sit with pride or honour but shame, Maci could see herself in him just as much as he could see himself in her.

Clearing her throat, Maci spoke up, breaking the dead silence between them. "You asked me, what happened to me, why was my information classified? I will tell you." She braced herself, breathing slowly. "On my first mission off world, we went too an isolated planet. A scientist named Lumia Jagoree was head of the mission, it was meant to be about locating or finding Forerunner technology. Jagoree took me under her wing; I thought I could trust her." She scoffed at that, shaking her head. "However she mislead me, tried to say the Supreme Commander was up to no good, so I disobeyed a direct order… and as a result, my team got killed because of that one, foolish mistake…because my own personal beliefs got in the way of things…They died because I thought I could save Jagoree, the real villain." She fought back the emotion swelling up inside, as she clenched her fists and tightened her jaws.

"In the end she was nothing more than an insane and unstable Sangheili, trying to become a God, forcing Sangheili and forerunner DNA together in hopes of conquering the world." She sniffed as her gaze trailed off. "At the end of her life she tried to tell me something, I don't know what it was, maybe her lifestyle but I killed her in cold blood before she could say more. I ended her life because I thought it was the right thing to do, she was too dangerous, too deranged. In the end what had happened, I killed my own Supreme Commander, I betrayed the crew. I was labelled a villain all for the sake of covering up the truth." She couldn't stop the tears from escaping, as she sat up and prodded her own chest plate, sounding distressed.

"I took that, I bared that pain, the heart break, those years locked away, beaten, marked and tormented for something I never did. The Commander was killed by Jagoree not me! He was the one whom asked me out of Honour to drive the blade into him because he did not wish for her to enjoy the satisfaction of killing him." She started to raise her voice, but not too loud as she let her anger out. "I obeyed his order then…but not before…So you are right, personal actions define our endings, but I believe in the end if our actions can bring peace, we might just have a chance to survive." Finally she took in a long deep breath, feeling an odd sensation of relief at telling someone the truth, as she looked up at Voras with tired eyes as the tears still slid down her cheeks.

Voras remained silent, he didn't expect this as Maci stood up calming herself down, as her hands trembled from recalling those memories, that pain she still bares to this very day. She didn't want comfort, she didn't need it, she had grown, and she had endured and in the end hardened to become a warrior. Behind her Voras stood up too, followed by a sigh as he walked over towards her, putting his hand on her shoulder, but Maci did not turn to look back at him, she focused on the dark spot before her, a cracked hole that might have been big enough for them to fit through, maybe…

"Durramee, a warrior goes through much, but you... you have gone through enough. You have my upmost respect and honour." Voras said in hope of comfort her and break the awkward silence.

However as Maci heard his voice, his words echoing in her mind, she moved away shaking his hold from her as she walked forward, she was dazed, an odd smell filled her nostrils as she crouched down, her emotions cut off from her all but one, Curiosity. It was like something was telling her to reach in as she put her hand into the dark hole not sure what she was even doing. Voras stood back and watched her, unsure of what to think or say, as Maci felt her hand grasp something strange. It felt….It felt like someone was in there. Without thinking she pulled on the hand she held as she dragged out the body, the stench of death even stronger now as she covered her mouth and gasped, stumbling back in horror. Even Voras gasped as the swarm of insects fluttered up from the corpse.

The corpse before them wasn't just a civilian, draped in what was once a pure white cloth, with golden trimming and a white robe, which signs of not just nobility but a councillor. The corpse was decayed badly, almost mummified perhaps. It looked to have been here for almost 6 months or maybe even more than that, as Maci turned to look up at Voras whom only looked back at her just as shocked before they both looked to the body. The Councillors robes had one particular bloodstain around his chest area, no plasma or bullet marks but rather a sword had been driven through his chest. There seemed to be no other marks on his body which meant it was either suicide or he had been caught off guard by someone.

Unable to take the smell and the sight any longer, Maci scooped up her helm, walked over towards the hole they had crawled in through in the ceiling and removed the cement rubble she had put in place, carefully checking for any enemies before she removed it and got out of there taking in long deep breaths of fresh air into her lungs. Voras followed her out just as fast gasping and coughing, even someone like a veteran seemed to be unable to endure such a horrendous stench in such a closed off space. The sun was bright beating down upon them with the radiant heat, it felt like an apocalyptical world with nothing but rubble to be seen. A faint collection of dust brewed in the air of the desolate lands, there was no wind either as Maci stumbled to the lower grounds of a former pathway.

"These attacks…how long ago did they start?" Maci said questioning, as she half looked over her shoulder while coughing trying to get large breaths of air into her lungs, her skin turned to a paler hue now from the pure shock.

"6 Months ago" Voras said as he came down by her side just as pale looking as she was, maybe even paler.

"Then we have a bigger problem…whoever the councillor is, isn't the real councillor" Maci said as she bulged her eyes wide for a moment to reframe her mind and breathing before looking up and around them.

Everything, from the Turncoat being Rio, to the glassed fields, to the information Voras had passed onto her didn't make much sense, but now it did. The 'he' they were looking for was the councillor, the leader of the rebels, the one that had ordered Rio to become the turncoat, to attempt to kill Maci. But why? If the real Councillor was dead, who was in his place? Could there have been special surgery done to augment ones face to appear like the councillor? How had any of the members not noticed this? In all but a few days Maci had come closer and closer to understanding the truth, that this must have been right in front of the Arbiters nostrils. It didn't make sense but in a way it did make sense. What had Maci bubbling inside, was why? Why kill her, why kill anyone? Rubbing the side of her head with frustration, Maci tried to stop her thoughts but it was too late.

"We need to move!" Voras said, breaking her train of thought as Maci snapped back to reality, looking at Voras bewildered.

"Voras…why would Rio say that the Councillor wanted me dead?" Maci said as she turned and looked up at him, confused and unsure of how she had become such a target.

"I'm unsure, but I know he wants us all dead. We know too much now, we know they have a weapon that can glass large fields, you know that yourself from seeing it. We know it's a large-scale group of all species. That is all we truly need. Perhaps Rio wanted to scare you, but you have proven them wrong." He scanned the area and nodded in a direction. "Now let us go, we need to get to those towers more than ever." Voras said in a strong and confident voice as he put a hand on her shoulder giving a tight squeeze. Maci nodded and strapped on her helmet.

Half an hour it would take them to get there as Maci looked off in the general direction of the towers, wondering if their enemies would be waiting for them. With a deep breath in Maci returned to look at Voras, she didn't know if they were ready but they had to be, they needed to get out there and with a little bit of luck they would. However the only issue was they had walked so far during the darker hours of the previous night that they had little to no idea where they were. It was nothing but rubble, stones and a desert sandy ground. The dust rolling around the place seemed to have settled down but with the easterly winds starting to brew up again, it was only being blown back up, as Maci covered her face to protect her sensitive eyes from the dirt flying around from the surprising sensation of the burst of wind. What they needed right now was a way out, a way to find themselves back on their mission, back on the main course.

Turning around Maci looked at Voras, he gazed off into the distance, towards the towers that they could just faintly see. Maybe he could come up with a good enough plan to get them there but Maci had another concerning issue to raise. If their enemy knew where they were going they would already be waiting, maybe even spring another trap on them. As good as a warrior Maci might have become, she knew that even they couldn't take the risk. This wasn't their fight, they were here to gather information, as Maci reminded herself coming to terms with the fact she was probably much more aware of their purpose here as well as understanding her task and duty as a warrior serving for the Arbiter, to protect her Home planet.

"We should circle around; scout the area before heading towards the towers. I think our enemy may be waiting there for us, do you not?" Maci said questioning softly, her tone was stoic like but her eyes held a ray of hope, holding out for something good to come their way.

"Hmm it would be a smart move to start off with. You are a smart thinker Maci, you should be honoured for such thoughts." Voras said patting her on the back as he started to walk off.

Maci only followed as where her orders, knowing that the information they had was vital to get back to Headquarters as fast as possible, four Spartans dead, a former councillor dead and someone with identical features having taken over their place as well as a rebellion and a weapon that could glass a football field was more than enough. Not only that but they now knew that what they faced wasn't just a bunch of raiders, but probably smugglers, hired guns, pirates of all species and kinds, and more than likely lured in by money just like Rio was.

Everything was silent between the two; all that could be heard was the sound of the wind crashing against the rubble, their feet crunching in the sandy dirt, sounds of plastic bags moving about and forgotten clothing rattling in the distances. Not even the wind chime could be heard, as Maci remembered back to July. That Spartan had killed her own fellow Spartan and possible lover in combat, and although Maci did not understand why she felt that in a way. Maybe it was because she knew that it would jeopardize the mission or maybe it was the fact she could not stand to see her lover in so much pain. In the end, Maci left it to those two thoughts as they walked for a while, watching the sun as it beamed down from above with its radiant heat, causing their bodies to feel hot despite the efforts of their skinsuits trying to keep them cool. It felt like summer had come early and spring had ended faster than it should have, as they walked along what felt more like the outskirts of the city, along the desert like sandy grounds where no planet life grew.

At times Maci questioned how this place might have looked previously, was this desert once a field of lush grass like Durram? Did the people that once lived here once have families, a Kaidon, nobility or just farmers? In a way Maci related to this place like Durram, but this place had seen far worse for nothing can come back from being glassed, it's like that forever until it gives way and becomes nothing more than a chasm of death and decay.

Though for Maci, things where not the same, not truly. She didn't feel like herself or maybe she was herself but understanding more of what she can do. She had more pride, more enthusiasm that wasn't going to get others killed, but she also understood the vitality of her mission, she understand more of her purpose, her reason, her duty. Not just for this mission but for herself. It was a pinnacle point, a start to becoming better and maybe she would indeed earn herself another rank.

"Do you think I could continue my training?" Breaking the silence, Maci spoke up over the wind as she looked up at Voras, curious of his thoughts on the matter.

"That depends, if you show you have the skillset, you can argue to go on with further harsher training. Most Sangheili are just grateful to become more then a Minor. Some are handpicked for particular ranks that suit them, but you….I noticed it's like you have to climb the ranks, you don't get to pick and choose. Maybe a female thing." Voras softly said the last of his words to himself more then to Maci.

"I think I will go on with my training." Maci commented back, as Voras stopped in his tracks and looked back at Maci.

"And why would you do that? Do you think that being a Major is not enough?" Voras raised a brow looking at Maci speculating her thoughts.

"No it is not that, but I feel it would be something I am not good at. Majors lead Minors and Grunts into Battle, but I do not feel I'm fit for such a role…" Maci said, taking in a deep breath and looking to the ground at a small dead weed.

"And what role do you feel you should have?" Voras snarled as he crossed his arms, a little unsure of how to take things but annoyed as if Maci did not acknowledge the meaning and vital need for each rank.

"I've lost people…good people. All my years of training I've been told to go home, to raise my Family, to be nothing but a mere wife and let my Mate rule in my place instead. However that is not the Durram way, we fight with honour and glory." Maci finally looked up at Voras. "I had a dream to become a Swords Master, maybe be on the council, but I do not feel that is something I can even be good at. My heart is on the battlefield, I want to become a part of the Stealth Force…but not forever." Maci paused taking in a deep breath.

"Not…forever?" Voras repeated softly trying to work Maci out.

"A Supreme Commander. I want to be a Supreme Commander." There she finally said it, in a strong determined voice as if hearing her own words uplifted her spirit.

Voras at first took a step back, it was unheard of for a female to be on the battlefield off world let alone hold a title rank in the militia. Females only protected the home world, that was the old traditional ways, but those had changed. Yet a Supreme Commander was a BIG jump and Voras wasn't sure what to say at first, he was shocked and surprised to hear her say such big words. However in the end he dropped his guard and nodded in agreement. He'd seen what she could do and she would make a fine warrior on the field but also one that could make fast tactical moves and anticipate the enemy's moves just as good as the Arbiter once had. To this Voras smiled and put a hand to Maci shoulder giving her a tight squeeze.

"Then you fight for that, you fight to become that Supreme Commander because I believe in you, that you can be a good warrior, but also one that can lead those in the right direction. However a bit of practice as a Major could help." Voras mocked in a friendly manner as he smiled.

It was good to hear this, as Maci smiled back, feeling prouder, better, more herself and more alive than before. She had many dreams but many had been crushed, this wasn't just her only dream and hope, this was her destiny and her purpose.


	11. Dust Storm

**A/n:** Hey everyone ok so firstly I didn't forget to upload or update anything, I just needed to take a bit of a break due to over stressing. I was that bad I couldn't even sit down and write. So anyway today I managed to go over this chapter, I've also wrote up the next following chapters and I figured I'd let you all know that this part of the series will probably have few chapters compared to the others, about 14-16 chapters maybe. Also things get very interesting; I'll be bringing in another NEW character for a brief moment.

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The Heat of the day only intensified with the bright sun burning down upon the lands as Maci and Voras continued along their pathless path skirting the outside of the rubble of the lost and forsaken city, covered in dust and dirt and now to add to the list, countless slayed bodies, including three decent Spartans and a betrayer. Their Mission had gone from good too bad as Maci recapped over a few things, her hands trailed over a stone wall feeling the odd sensation beneath her skinsuit covered fingertips. Part of the young female warrior wished this was over, but in all honesty she had a new brewing desire to kill, to hunt down the one that was truly behind this, to make them pay. Whoever it was that had taken the placement of a former councillor. Yet that was not part of their mission, their current one anyway as Maci had to forcibly remind herself.

They needed to get out of this place, they needed an Evac immediately and they needed to firstly inform the Council of the ongoing situation. For there was no time to fight or kill anyone else, they had come for what they needed, or at least part of it. For the device causing those glassed fields was still a mystery but it didn't matter anymore. They were in a life threatening situation that required the Intel that they had more than enough to pull them out. The Dusty ground, a mixture of sand and red dirt had no trails, no evidence of life, just barren and rotten to the core and not even fertile enough soil to grow any form of crops of planet life for that matter. To even state a fact Maci had not seen a single river bed, not a dried up one or a full one. It was like this place had turned into a forsaken waste land, left alone and unnoticed too long for things to go sideways at the right moment.

In a way they were traveling further and further away, more or less looking for another option, anything and everything. At times when the wind and dust had settled, Maci would ponder freely, but to no avail could she come up with anything admitting to the fact that she herself wasn't as wise or experienced like Voras whom remained quiet. At times the places they ventured towards and near seemed repetitive, a large pile of rocks here, some rubble there, dirty clothes here and forgotten and lost property that once had been loved lay everywhere. It all had started to become a tad bit depressing seeing the same thing over and over again and knowing that deep down their mission was vital to return back to the Council.

Breaking the Silence Maci looked up at Voras "Anything?" she called out to Voras against the wind passing by.

He had slowed down slightly and turned to look over his shoulder shrugging softly. "No the beacon isn't picking up any strong signals." His gaze fell to the odd blue device in his hands.

The Beacon was small, triangular looking type of metal with one blue glowing orb in the middle that activated the hologram that was being projected, showing all the statues in regards to signals. It wasn't a small device either; in fact it fit in both of Voras palms as he out stretched them and continued to walk on wards. However the only issue was this was their only Beacon, Voras was the only one to have it since their primary job was to merely gain information, stalk and watch, not get involved. If it had not been for Rio, perhaps things would have been easy, but in a lot of ways Maci felt a tug at her heart, unsure of what the strange emotion was that was pulling at her mind. Slowly the rising red sun began to set behind the horizon, casting its vibrant crimson glow over the land, but the clouds in this place where thicker and darker looking, they set earlier too as Maci sighed looking up at the sky above, unsure if it may become a danger for them or not.

Voras never complained, never looked around, kept his eyes focused on the device in his hands as if he was inwardly praying for something. Anything. He'd seen death, watched his family torn apart, watched them bleed, die and now he had to watch Maci go through just that. He'd been focusing so much on the beacon signal just to avoid the thoughts but he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Maci had been put in a situation much like he had when he was younger, forced to take punishment for another's actions, to cover up the truth, but unlike him Maci dealt with it by herself. She didn't shed it on the others out of fear because she was afraid of what they might say and do as Voras glanced over his shoulder once more to Maci. She was walking with her head down looking at the ground counting the stones and rocks they were passing, the small collection of items lost and destroyed in sand storms and battles.

Turning back around to look towards the horizon, Voras knew she would be a fine warrior, she'd dealt her own fair share of pain and suffering as he stopped watching the vibrant sun setting behind the mountains for the briefest of moments, the dark clouds where coming over towards them, a gust of wind was beginning to brew but there was nothing more than silence.

From behind Maci once more calls out, curiosity lacing her tone "Is it the beacon?" She asks as she looks over at Voras coming up by his side and then glancing to the Beacon.

Voras paused as he looked down at the holographic image before him and then looked back up at Maci. "You do not need to burden yourself; there are always others that will understand your pain." That was all he said in a strange sympathetic tone as he turned and continued to walk.

This left Maci bewildered as she watched him walk on, she didn't understand what or why as she took in a deep breath and tried to put it all aside following him. The gust of wind was beginning to stir up the dusty dirty ground again as Maci covered the side of her face feeling the force of the wind as it blew every now and then. The sand and dirt pelted against her helmet and armour making little pitter-patter sounds, but the sensation of the dirt against her face wasn't very pleasant. In fact this new found sand storm that was picking up would have been able to cover up their tracks as Maci looked behind them watching the small imprints in the ground from their feet slowly be covered up. However as Maci had turned around she couldn't help but take one last look at the faint foggy looking background of rubble in the distance before a new gust of wind picked up, causing Maci to stumble to the side a bit as she raised her hand up to shield her face forcing herself to return back to following.

At least Voras wasn't walking very fast and she didn't blame him, he was still searching for a signal but they had lost track of where they were, they could have been a mere meter away from the tower or even worse miles away as the dust storm was beginning to make it hard to see what was in front of them. All Maci knew was they were out in the out skirts of the city in hopes to keep any enemies off their tails and to find a close enough signal. With what they knew and had found out, their situation was critical as Maci sighed. Overhead in the distant horizon despite the thick dust building up was a typical scene playing out, the clouds grow in number as they darken moving closer and closer with every moment, shielding the sunlight away as the afternoon approached.

To Maci this had become a common thing, to watch, to see, to feel as she took in a deep breath still shielding her face from the dust storm. Flex of dirt and dust had grown in number in a few short seconds as Maci found herself more and more pushing forward, each step was taken with more effort and strength, the wind that blew down against them stronger than ever as Maci made a faint primal like growl sound in protest. Voras was ahead of her and seemed to be in a similar situation, he had turned the Hologram off and seemed to be lacking in speed coming back to Maci's side as he glanced over towards her, his face shielded mostly by his defined armour and helmet but also by his arms, both raised up criss-crossing in an attempt to stop the dirt from getting in his eyes.

Over the sound of the wind and dirt he yelled to her, never breaking eye contact. " We need to find shelter and fast!" He boomed as best as he could, his words sounding like a mere whisper to her ears, but it was enough for Maci to understand.

Nodding in agreement the two warriors began to venture through the rubble area in hopes of finding a cave, a ruined house of sorts or anything. Being out in this storm wasn't going to be any good as it had picked up fast and with night closing in on them, they would be in danger. Voras tried to lead the way, each step he took seemed to almost slip as if he was unable to get a good grip on the ground from the lose sandy soil. Even Maci felt the same as she pushed forward following behind him, his figure almost disappearing from time to time as the dust storm grew in thickness before Maci heard him yell out.

"There!" He pointed with his index fingers towards a small hole in the side of some rubble that could only be faintly see by the inner darkness of the cave.

They walked as best as they could, using all their effort to fight against the wind before they could creep inside the dark and sheltered little cavern like area they had found. Maci had found some lose cement and put it in place to cover up the entrance before turning to examine their new found shelter. It was more like a pile of rubble that had collapsed down onto one another, a beam frame was the only thing really holding it up as on the inside silenced the harsh whooshing sound of the gusty wind blowing outside, only to make a whistle like sound as the beam creaked from the possible pressure which made Maci somewhat warry as she looked around. There wasn't much in all honesty, no clothing or rubbish to imagine what could have been, Voras took a seat nearby, he was too tall for this place that he had to actually crouch down a bit whereas Maci fitted in perfectly, her head almost touching what could be considered the ceiling as she smirked.

Voras sat down as he grumbled something while he dusted the sand from the beacon he had been carrying. He made a low primal like sound that was between a growl and a gurgle of sorts as Maci found a comfortable seat on the rock hard ground as she sat upon the uneven ground. It was the only sense of ground or floor here and Maci made do as she peered over at Voras. Both their armours had a horrible red tint to them now due to the red dust that now covered them, including their faces. This brought Macis eyes out even more as she trailed a hand up and over her injured eye feeling the sensitive skin before she winched from the sensation of the pain rushing through the side of her face as she hissed out.

Cutting the Silence Voras spoke up locking directly with her eyes. "You shouldn't touch it, might get infected." His voice sounded raspy as Maci looked up over at him. "However we have an issue." Voras said looking down at the beacon and then back to Maci. "Our Beacon isn't working, seems some of the dirt got inside of it and has caused some issue. Might take me a while to pull it apart and fix it all up." He sighed almost defeated as he rotated the device in his hand as if trying to figure out the problem with a single glance.

To this Maci put her back against the wall and made a soft sigh like sound herself and furrowed her brows as she removed her dirty helmet. "I think we need a plan of action. I mean I know we need to find an area to set up the beacon but who's to stop these rebels from destroying the signal? What if they have decoders or even signal disruptors?" Maci shook her head and closed her eyes as she spoke her words.

"You are over thinking." Voras said in a stoic voice not looking up at her, his attention focused primarily on the device in his hands as he sat it down on the ground as he attempted to pry it open on the sides. "First thing comes first. We fix the beacon up. Find a signal, and then we go from there."

"That's improvising." Maci snorted as she cocked her head looking up at Voras, this had caught his attention as he looked up at her stopping what he was doing.

"Improvise?" He raised a brow; his pupils seemed to turn into slits focusing on Maci giving him a mad appearance. "You may think so, but in this situation it is the best we have." He said before leaving it at that and returning his focus on the beacon.

From then on Maci remained quiet as she looked to the ceiling, taking in a long deep breath of the stale air around the, the whistling sound from the storm was coming through small tiny cracks and with it some red sand as Maci frowned and tried hard not to think about it too much. They had lost a losing battle, one they never should have been involved in from the start. Life is a precious thing and the one thing Maci couldn't understand was why those Spartans risked so much for something like this mission. What information and knowledge did they have that could have helped Voras? With a sigh Maci and looking down at the dirty ground at her feet Maci knew she would never know or understand that of which drives the human mind, but she knew her own reasons and that was what mattered the most. She wanted to protect her family, her home, her state, she wanted to surpass the odds and prove that she could be more than just a normal female, she wanted to become stronger and better but in her thoughts she realized something very important as she gazed over at Voras.

He was right, about her getting some experience as a Major, she needed to learn how to command and she needed to do it fast as she watched the male pull apart the device, wires snapped off and destroyed while he dusted and cleaned the area. Perhaps he knew how to put it back together as Maci watched him intently while he put a small metal screw to the side and removed a disc like looking frame that energized the device. He was so careful with his movement and touch as he worked, and he worked fast with accuracy, perhaps he had done this once before as Maci sat up to get herself a bit more comfortable.

Maci couldn't contain her curiosity a she spoke up "What are you doing? " One of her brows raised as she watched him.

Voras did not look up at Maci, he did not stop in his tracks as he continued to pull apart and clean the beacon. "It's too damaged to use. Some sand clogged up in side and due to the heat hardened like a rock and caused some issues. I'm trying to salvage what we have; it may just work but…" He paused and stopped what he was doing. "Our main important goal here is to find a way off here. I'm sure by now the Council has sent someone to come find us." Voras said, but there was something in his voice, a hint of regret and maybe the fact he knew that this sort of mission no one comes after you.

Even Maci knew that, she could see he was tired, defeated; they were still recuperating from everything as Maci shifted in her seat, and she was hungry, thirsty. This area had no form of food source and their armour was getting low on energy, if they didn't do something soon they would be facing dehydration, and if that doesn't kill them then starvation will.

Clearing her throat Maci hunched forward, her hands on her knees as she looked at Voras seriously. "I think we are pushing ourselves." She said bluntly without adding any further information.

Voras knew what she was meaning as he glared up at her before returning back to fiddling around with the former beacon. "So you are telling me that a mission such as our own is nothing? Just like how you also believe that you can just simply go up ranks without earning such a title?" Voras snorted, he was irritated, annoyed by her as he shook his head.

Maci knew what the problem was, they were cooped in this place together, with very little room, very little sustenance and exhausted and beaten with the possible chance of death on their very own door step as Maci took in a deep breath. It wasn't personal, but he was taking it out on Maci, she could see that. One thing was for sure Maci wasn't going to give up, she wasn't going to lie down and die in the middle of god knows where. She wanted to get home as fast as she could, not just for her title or ranking, but to her children. To see Zuka once more, to embrace her young family and tell them all the stories she knew, to cuddle them and kiss them and take her Daughter to that upcoming Sword Dancing festival show she had been so eager to see since the start of the month. For that was the Light in the darkness right now as Maci stood up, a new found determination was clear all over her, but mainly in her vibrant blue eyes. Her chest puffed forward, her eyes showed a glimmer of being stubborn but also hope.

"You can focus on salvaging the device, but we also need to focus on our bodies as well! I can gather food and water once this storm is over. We can work together that way, but we can't neglect our needs. No matter how much you think you may know me or be able to calculate me, I know in my heart that I want to get out of here faster than yourself, to put an end to this issue, but to do so I need to be strong and so do you." Maci said in a bitter, stubborn and blunt tone pointing to her chest before she dropped back to the ground having finally said her bit.

Voras remained silent, he was shocked, surprised if you wish as he looked over at her. Maci didn't have time to focus anymore on the issue as she rolled onto her side using the wall as a form of support, her arms folded over her chest as best as they could despite the restriction of her armour as she closed her eyes. Both of her hearts felt like they were going through the roof as she expected some sort of reaction, to be yelled at and told she was being disobedient, but instead she only heard silence and a faint sigh before Voras must have gone back to working on the device. However Maci knew her body needed to rest, it would give her armour a minor break, she knew they needed to start to be savvy and within a few short breaths Maci fell into a deep dark sleep. The howling outside could no longer be heard, the pumping of her hearts soothed over and the stress no more.


	12. Kill to Survive

**A/N:** Sorry to everyone that has been waiting for this chapter for like almost a month now. I will have chapter 13 up very soon later today though. So please enjoy and let me know what you all think in the comments :D

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 **Name: Maci Durramee**

 **Year: 2564 June**

 **Gender: Female**

 **Age:26**

 **Rank: Minor**

 **Location: Unknown Warzone, Sanghelios**

 **Kill to Survive**

Once the storm had started to ease and the darkness had once more taken over the sky with very little lighting, Maci knew it was time to get started. In their small little cavern area Maci adjusted the lighting on her armour down to a minimum so that it gave off a weak glow appearance. With a deep breath in she looked at Voras before she slipped through the cracks of their shelter and out into the wilderness. Voras was still mindlessly at it with his device, but Maci feared it would be of no use as she scanned from side to side to up and down before she fully exited the cave only to turn back around and place a heavy stone looking piece of rubble cement back over the entrance of where she had come out from. Her eyes where still adjusting to the darkness as she remained alert and ready, her hands always down by her sides, finger tips stretched ready for the chance to grab her energy hilts.

All that could be seen of Maci was a faint silhouette, however so where her surroundings as she sighed looking at the formations around her as her eyes had to finally adjust a bit to the darkness. Her primary task was to find and collect resources as she took in a deep breath and headed in the general direction of right which went up on a bit of slop. All she could do was assume she was walking up some formation of a hill. Maci knew that when it came to hunting you need to be able to locate your preys location and watering holes to where they may venture from time to time. Even though it was dark Maci had to make do and it seemed to be the best time since during the day any form of life seemed irrelevant so perhaps Maci would get lucky as she scaled up the side of the hill feeling her footing become lose beneath what must have been sandy soil. In the darkness its hard to tell and Maci was in foreign land, so she had to endure this, she had to prove Voras wrong for her pride was riding on this but she also knew this was more than just about her pride, it was about survival.

In the air there was a bitter chill as Maci exhaled a small puff of steam from her mandibles, her blue eyes focused on the darken area, watching, waiting, anticipating a single small little black dot to move somewhere out there in the distance. This was harder than thought but in all honesty as Maci reached the peak of this hill; she knew it was far better than being stuck in a small confined cave like the past couple of days where her thoughts only drift to a dark place. With a soft snort she scanned the horizon again and again. Nothing, nobody. It was dead silent, desolated place that felt like fallout had happened and it made Maci snarl, she hated this, hated this mission and hated how quiet it bloody well was. Even the sound of a faint howling wind would have made her feel a little more comfortable, but the silence was what got to her, the bitterness it drew from her. The aching for a fight that made her blood boil.

Over the course of an hour the young female sat down trying to maintain her patience, her eyes shifting from here to there, high to low, but she saw nothing, heard nothing for so long it felt like she was going crazy. At some point she even tried to spot some water by clasping her hands over her ear in hopes to hear something, but there was nothing, not even in this silent dormant and abandoned place there was just no source of life anywhere. Not even a pesky little creature to pick off. With a heavy sigh and her body slumped in defeat Maci felt like she had lost a war, she was disappointed in herself, disappointed in the fact she wasn't even able to locate any form of resource and she knew that if she returned back empty handed she would only have to deal with a lecture about how stupid her idea was. However she had to stay positive as she knew it was too early to give upas she looked back out into the darkness with hope, heck she'd even eat a human if that was the cost of things as she thought to herself. Yet there was nothing, nothing for her here to find to help give Voras or herself any source of food, protein or hydrate their bodies.

Maybe she was better off looking around rather than waiting for something to move. Sangheili have the best of eye sight and hearing so it surprised Maci that she had not picked up anything, yet again the previous fight could have caused most life forms to disappear from the area more than likely as Maci stood up dusting herself off as best as she could sighing in defeat as she did so. Within the next few hours she knew that eventually the sun would rise up and over to great her with nothing more than a heavy weight upon her back. However just as Maci looked up over at the horizon, something from the corner of her eye caught her attention. Stiffening up as she watched a silhouette figure approaching, Maci's eyes grew wide with curiosity, pride but also fear. The figure was between two large pieces of rubble or perhaps they were rocks, she couldn't tell, but she could see the faint movement from one shoulder blade to another, the faint sound of crunching as they approached on all fours. At first Maci questioned if she should kill it without a second thought, but then she stopped herself, her own foolish curiosity flooded her mind as to what the creature could be. However that was her down fall.

Although Maci was standing up top of a hill, she had no real advantage as the creature sprung with a force Maci didn't expect, in fact she barely had time to grasp her hilts when she was tackled to the ground, a strange primal snarl filled her ear drums as she glared up. Her prey, but now predator had her pinned down and strangely enough was straddling over her, then a faint glimmer of silver flashed before her eyes and that's when Maci realized this wasn't just any creature, it was one of the rebels. With pure force Maci wrapped her legs tightly around her opponents waist bending to her right before using as much force as she could jerked her legs to the left causing her opponent to fall to the side as they lost balance, a high pitched yelp could be heard from them as Maci got to her feet in a hurry as she made a primal like snort sound and quickly launched at the rebel, placing on of her feet heavily onto their chest.

Activating one of her enemy blades for both lighting and intimidation the enemy below her was illuminated as they snarled, gurgled and made only animalistic sounds. "What the…" Maci paused as she looked into the eyes of a young human female. She had these clouded eyes that at first made Maci question, their hair was a dirty blond, it was tangled into massive matters and knots all strewn about as Maci gulped down taking in the sight of her enemy that was only a young child.

In fact this human was probably not even older than 15. They were young, their body height perhaps close to half the size of Maci but it wasn't that which stunned Maci the most, it was their scrawny appearance, this child had clearly not seen a good feast in days as Maci gulped down her enemy unaware of the vibrantly growing sword inching closer and closer to their face, only the hissing sound of the sword being an indication to that of what weapon Maci was holding. Well Maci did say she would eat human flesh if that was the cost of things as she drew in a deep breath. Clearly this human was too weak to survive another week out here and it only seemed fear to end one's life in such a state. However Maci kept trying to convince herself that she was doing the right, trying to justify her cause as she raised the blade up before making the final blow to her pathetic enemy that was trying to buck and trash about under her hold.

Yet just as Maci used all her force in her arm to thrust the blade down, the human made a strange whimper like sound, much like an animal crying for help which caused Maci to hesitate stopping a mere inch or two away from the younglings neck. "Please…" Squawked the girl. "Please don't…" Tears were welling up in the human's eyes; they had given up struggling and seemed defeated their arms raised to their head as if to show they where not of any threat.

What the hell was she thinking? Maci was about to kill this human without a second thought and for what? Her pride, to survive? Gulping down Maci took a moment to go over things. This human child had probably used all of her energy up in just talking her beforehand as Maci grimaced looking down, but she told her self once more this had to be done if she was to survive, she had to do this because that's what a warrior would do right? Yet even with such thoughts Maci removed her foot from the girl's chest and deactivated her blade as she watched the young human scurry to her feet with her arms weakly wrapping around her chest. What had caught Maci's attention the most was the fact that this human spoke her language, and it seemed too natural for someone such as a human to speak and judging by the looks of things this human was only wearing tattered leather clothing from the hides of animals, various at the most since some considered of feathers, reptile like skin and colo hide as Maci took in a sniff of this strange females scent.

Clearing her cracked throat the human spoke up again, her body trembling as she sat up in a crouched position. "Please don't kill…" It seemed more like begging than anything else. "I find food." They nodded to themselves as if it was a form of apologising for their actions.

"Fine." Maci said in agreement. "But I'm watching your every move." She added in a far bitterer and colder tone as she snarled trying hard not to let her inner emotions take over.

The strange human got up and weakly lead the way down the other side of the hill in the opposite direction of where she had come from. Her small little legs looked like nothing but sticks, in fact she probably had very little muscle on her bones as the child walked in an odd way perhaps from the pain of starvation and the toll it took on her body making Maci gulp down as she watched. However as they walked Maci remained alert, her grasp on both her hilts tightened with each and every step. The human didn't speak much more, they walked with a hunch like appearance which made Maci question just who this human was, why they were the way they were, perhaps one of those pathetic rebels which meant that Maci could be walking into a trap as she made a low like growl sound.

Breaking the silence Maci spoke up "Your name…What is it?" Maci said as she snorted her words holding an intimidating tone to them.

The human seemed to slow their walk and turn as if too look at Maci. "Ne. They call me Ne." Was all she said in a faint little whisper like tone before continuing on their path through the darkness passing various old buildings and rusted out vehicles. In fact it seemed they were getting further and further in towards the heart of what must have once been a city. From here Maci could even see the faint red flickering dot of the radio tower far off in the distance.

"Ne you say? How did you come here?" Maci questioned turning her attention back to the strange skulking human.

"Ne does not know. I came to family here, they took care of me. War hit, they died, I hit head hard, I forget the rest." She seemed to shrug the situation off as she spoke her words calmly, her head turning side to side listening to various things, feeling with her dirty bare hands on the cement buildings like as if she was some sort of insect.

Maci didn't need to question anymore; this child had clearly been taken in by a Sangheili family at one point, which wasn't unheard of in this day and age now. Perhaps hitting her head caused for a few issues, like the strange way she spoke, not truly referring to herself, but almost in third person in a way. It reminded Maci of Rio as she clenched her jaw and gripped her swords tight. However the small human ducked behind a rock gesturing for Maci to follow as she didn't hesitate to do so.

"See men?" Ne said pointing out into the darkness towards two standing silhouettes. They looked just like a bunch of rubble pieces sticking up, but the closer Maci looked the more she could see their defined head shapes of two human males. "Men take food from Ne, Ne must get it back, and you will help." The human child said before scurrying off behind the rubble avoiding detection.

With a soft growl like sound Maci followed suit with the human child until they came to a small camp area. It was mostly humans, males gathered around a camp fire, chewing on tender meat with the juices dripping down the side of their mouths. They where muttering something in slurred tones, chuckling at random pathetic things that perhaps humans joked about. Yet just behind the small band of human men was a large crate of food, canned food and water to be more exact as Maci took in a long deep breath of the scented food they had cooked up, her tummy rumbled almost threatening to growl as her mouth salivated up.

Turning to the small human child Maci looked at her. "Ne, you stay here I can get-" Before she could finish her words the child jumped out from behind the rubble waving her hands, a strange grin upon her face which made Maci feel a tinge of regret and anger.

She didn't say anything, but she laughed, the men jumped up, dropping their food and grabbing their guns before Ne pointed towards Maci. "You little-" Maci bitterly snarled before the human child leaped into the air with some form of energy and dashed into the darkness. At this point Maci stood up and activated her blades.

"HOLY SHIT IT'S A FREAK!" Screamed one of the men as he stumbled backward on his arse. "Shut up dick head, it's a fucking Split Mouth!" Yelled another before they immediately opened fire with their rifles.

Their metal pellet didn't reach Maci as she leaped up into the air high enough before clashing down on the ground on top of a human, his spin snapping from the pure force as Maci pushed off him and swung one of her blades into one humans neck decapitating him in an instant, the third human male fell back pissing himself, his gun in his hands as he held the trigger in tightly but no bullets fired on the sound of the gun clicking. He probably jammed it up as Maci quickly slashed at his guts causing the innards to spill. In the distance was the sounds of the guards, they must have been close as Maci snarled but she didn't have time for this.

She looked towards the crates only to see Ne had taken off with them. "HEY!" She yelled with pure anger at the child before activating her camo and disappearing into the night.

By the time the two guards arrived there was no one in sight, just a bunch of dead humans as they swore and barked orders into their com links. However as for Maci she darted quietly into the night as she watched the young human female closely. Ne had gotten very far with the crates of food, but they were too heavy and she had already drained most of her energy as Maci took note that they were now far away from the camp, the fire was still in sight as where the guards that had come, but Maci and Ne where far away from their sights as the female sangheili deactivated her Camo coming up from behind the child.

The sound of such a thing caused Ne to freeze, her eyes shot wide open looking in the general direction of Maci as the female sangheili gripped the weak human by the shoulder. "Don't ever do that again!" She hissed out in a hushed tone to avoid detection but the anger was there.

Ne only stood frozen while Maci grabbed the crate into her arms hoisting the heavy thing up wondering how such a human could drag such a hefty thing so far. "Now where is your camp" Maci added in a bitter tone. Ne only looked up in surprise before tugging on Maci to follow.

The two walked in silence for almost an hour, by that time the sun had begun to rise up and over the horizon, the evident crimson line a beauty that Ne would probably never get to see as Maci looked at the camp that Ne had brought her too. It was in fact an old house, small tins where drawn up to an old woollen piece of rope that circled around the area, a wind chime sat in the former place of the window as it made a faint jingle like sound, it had a child's decoration on it, that of star ships and small little stars as Maci took in the sight. There was a pile of clothing in the coroner of the empty and half destroyed house as Maci stepped in putting the crate down in the corner. It was obvious that the small pile of clothing was this child's bed as Maci sighed.

"Why do you stay here?" Maci questioned as she watched the hungry child grab a tin on top, snapping the lid off with very little effort before scoffing down the liquid contents of what must have been soup.

Only when she drank all the soup did the child look up at Maci with a gleeful smile. "This is Ne's home. Home before the war, Home forever." She said, a brightness flickering in her cloudy eyes that Maci could not explain.

What was it about the humans that Maci could never understand despite her attempts? Why did this human child stay in such a devastated place that probably only held heart breaking memories? With a grimace look Maci sighed and squatted down beside the child whom was now opening a small cantina of water. "You do not have to stay here; you can come back with us." Maci said as she looked at the child in question.

Shacking her messy head from side to side the child only smiled. "No, that is not home, this here is home. Ne will find others; Ne will help stop this war. Ne will win back home." There was something in that pride filled voice that hit Maci hard.

Perhaps it was the familiar feeling of determination, to fight back for what is rightfully hers, to do what needs to be done as she looked at the young child wondering just how far she would go. "I must go now." Maci said as she stood up pushing aside her emotions. "I will only take a few cans and two containers of water ok?" it wasn't much of a question as Maci scooped the said items up into her hand.

"Ne thanks you." The child said in a gleeful tone as Maci turned and left.

It was harder than thought, to just leave a child, a vulnerable one at that in this place that was torn between war and utter chaos. The sound of the wind chimes in the distance the last thing Maci could hear as memories flashed in her mind. The faint light from the sunrise allowed Maci to find her way back towards the small hill mound. To not turn and look back was perhaps even harder as Maci drew in a deep breath forcing her mind to remain blank as she followed her instincts until she returned back to the cave where Voras would be awaiting her.

Ne…a strange human female child that could talk Sangheili and was willing to risk everything despite being blind and on the verge of death, a child refusing to let go of her home and family that may not biologically be related to her, but even so despite it all she was willing to push forward and fight….Much like Maci. A new found hope began to grow within the female sangheili as she took in one final breath before opening the caven.


	13. Abandon

**Name: Maci Durramee**

 **Year: 2564 July**

 **Gender: Female**

 **Age:26**

 **Rank: Minor**

 **Location: Unknown Warzone, Sanghelios**

 **Abandon**

Upon arrival Maci slide the large cement block of rumble out of the way to re-enter into their small confined space of a cavern they had found when the Storm had hit. As she moved to the side and collected the items she had gained from Ne, Maci couldn't help but notice a lack in sound. She'd sworn when she had left Voras had been grumbling about something, probably becoming frustrated with the outcome of their predicable situation. Pushing aside any negative thought Maci proceeded to enter into the cavern as she closed her eyes, smiled and prepared to reopen them as she turned around to see a stunned Voras that would congratulate her and praise her for her hard work and also realize Maci was more useful then thought.

Yet that wasn't the case, as Maci opened her eyes all she saw was nothing more than empty space. Automatically the tins and cantinas she had gathered fell to the floor, a sense of abandonment filled her as she looked around madly. There was nowhere for anyone to hide and if Voras had even left for even the smallest moment he would have at least left some pieces of the beacon behind right? As her fear ran rampant in her mind Maci removed her helmet knocking it to the ground so her hands could rise up against her temples.

What kind of a nightmare had she now stepped into? Wasn't losing everyone, face a horrible outcome of dying enough? The pupil of her eye turned to a slit as her breathing quickened, her hands trembled and her pulse was going through the roof until she shut her eyes and fell to her knees knowing she needed to stop, she needed to calm down and think straight. It was easier said than done as Maci panted, her lungs felt like they were constricting, becoming harder to breath as she tried to slow down her inhales and exhales. Yet the fear and realization of being left alone in this foreign place was all too much for Maci to take in. She wouldn't last even a week out here with those Rebels, she wasn't like Voras, she wasn't strong like him or smart, she wasn't a warrior that she had dreamed of becoming.

Each breathe her body quaked with a strong shake, her mind was gone, her soul felt like it was fading away as Maci tried not to over react, she could barely hold it together as she looked around once more for a sign or a note, anything at all. Yet to her amaze there was nothing so she pinched her skin, hoping that this was all but a dream, a pathetic attempt to wake up but the sudden pinch of her skin only made her yelp as she began to whimper, tears welling up in her eyes. Her thoughts drifted to the fact that maybe Voras had got the beacon to work and he was rescued and Maci was left behind, but it didn't make sense, none of this did.

Her former hunger disappeared as she collapsed to the ground in a ball, her arms holding onto her legs as best as she could with her armour, she was too afraid to do anything, lost in this mad world of death and chaos and everything was now finally starting to take a hold on her. The numerous times she should have died, the times she had watched others die or those she had killed. From the very first time she had to end someone's life to recently, to the harsh tests she had to endure during The Great Trials, to the punishments and beat ups in Prison. The lingering fact she can never trust someone, the betrayal, the hatred. It all came down to so many things that caused Maci to close her eyes tightly, to grit her teeth, clench her jaw, her hands forcing harsh fists causing her knuckles to turn white with the grip so much that her knuckles felt they would pierce through her skinsuit and flesh. Her eyes felt wet as tears dripped down her face, she couldn't do this, her breathing was erratic, and her chest felt tight, her mind was lost and nothing more than a confused blur. She'd worked so hard to prove she was better, she thought she could do this but now she knew that in the end she was still but a mere minor fighting against the odds, odds that may never change.

Time passed and eventually Maci slipped into a deep sleep, her body trembling from time to time as the day grew, the sun gave off such radiant heat that Maci eventually awoke in a heap of her own sweat causing her to panic as she jolted up right. It wasn't a good sign as she traced a hand over her exposed head, it was a sign that her armour was no longer able to control her climate heating, which meant if it became too cold or too hot her body would feel it. With a heavy hearted sigh Maci shook her head and reached for one of the cantinas of water, she knew desperately that she needed to get through this, despite her mental break down she undid the lid of the cantina bringing it to her lips and took a sip of the fine refreshing water as it slid down her throat causing her to make a relaxed sound as she lowered her head.

In all honesty she didn't know what to do, she was praying Voras would be back, but he wasn't and it didn't seem fitting that he just up and disappear without saying or doing something as she sighed and put a palm to her forehead, her body was still suffering from the after effects of her emotional outburst, with all those hormones and chemicals rushing through her body she felt weak and ill as a headache began to grow. Taking another small sip from the cantina Maci decided it was enough for her as she put the lid back on placing the cantina back down by her side as she reached for one of the various tins of food. She needed to get her body back into working order fast, if Voras was gone; if something had happened while she was not here then it meant she needed to find her own way out. Heck for all she knew he could have been dragged away and killed which meant that she was the only one with knowledge of what was and is going on.

Cracking open the tin Maci took a sniff of the contents of the liquid. It seems to have been some sort of beans in a source, something that seemed foreign to her but without a doubt Maci raised the tin up to her mouth and swished it back, scuffing it down as best as she could. Her body should still be able to hold food down, it wasn't like she was lacking in it, it just meant she needed to make her body work on its own without relying heavily on her armour. It needed to be reenergized back up soon, these climates and battles had done a number on her and the armour and it was too risky to be out here on her own for too long. Tossing aside the now empty can Maci took a final sip from the cantina of water and decided to venture out of the cavern.

What she needed now more than anything was something to carry her resources in, since she had collected enough for both her and Voras it meant that Maci would at least be able to survive a little longer, but the lingering thought remained. What exactly happened to Voras? Stepping outside into the blinding sun Maci looked around shielding her eyes with her hands as she put her helmet back on. There was still a bit of dirt in the air with the faint breeze passing by as Maci looked at the various rubble before she began to walk in no general direction but forward until she found what she was looking for. One of those various small scraps of clothing that wasn't just a rag, it might have once been a curtain at some point as Maci activated one of her blades and cut it down to size. It would do to make a small sac as Maci admired her rough work on the faint creamy looking dirty fabric.

Once more she headed back to the nearby cavern and re-entered before quickly laying the fabric out on the floor and carefully putting the contents of her resources into it. She'd made the fabric into a nice square shape and once she had everything in she brought all four corners up and tied it into a knot. It would do for now as she hummed to the rough job and attached the sack onto the back of her belt where there was a small hook for her former grenades. Feeling satisfied with her skills so far Maci took in one last deep breath as she looked at the empty space around her. It was now or never that she made the choice to do the right thing, to finish this mission. Going after Voras would be important but if she can't find him it only meant that it would jeopardize the mission right? Maci knew what she had to do, or at least hoped. For returning back alone, survivor or not, with important information or not, it was seen as suspicious. She'd be held accordingly for Voras disappearance since she already had a criminal record, one that was not rightfully hers. Yet that didn't matter, she was meant to be under Voras supervision and returning without him would result in sufferable penalty, perhaps not even be able to hold a rank or remain as Kaiden.

Closing her eyes Maci didn't think any more on the subject as she turned away and walked out of the cavern and left behind nothing but one thing. A small note in the ground carved out in the stone wall saying 'I'll be Back'. The harsh heat from the sun felt like it was blistering down on her as Maci looked around having stepped outside feeling somewhat refreshed with a clear mind. Thankfully Maci's helmet provided some form of shade for her face as Maci walked over the former hill she had last night. From where Ne had taken her, she could see the Radio tower which meant that with the red glowing light there must have been some sort of activate power energy there. Maci could easily use such power for two things, get a signal out for help and stabilize her armour for even a single day or two. Yet ensuring she goes undetected would be the hard part as Maci kept to the rubble area for coverage. The biggest problem was her camo may not work anymore so Maci would have to rely heavily on her training and primal instincts from here on out. For in this forsaken waste there wasn't much survival wise, just large cement blocks from former houses or metal lying around lose on the ground. The sound of the wind chime in the distance growing less as Maci went on.

It was like she was leaving behind everything, everything that resembled this mission however a voice yelled out in the distance as Maci ducked down. "THERE!" A human man called out. Must have been one of those guards from last night.

They were perched up high on some rubble that Maci had not taken notice too as they pointed their guns in her direction. There wasn't much point in fighting or hiding for that fact as Maci made a run for it, one hand on her energy blade, the other on the sack on her back to make sure it wouldn't bust open. The men came running after Maci; they had to jump over the rubble where as to Maci it was just a mere hop for her. They couldn't risk firing a gun at her right now so she had the advantage as she darted through the rocky rubble area. At least there were only two of them as Maci made a direct bee line towards the city area. However a plan came to mind as Maci darted in behind a small layer of area where numerous rubble pieces had fallen. It was much like a maze as Maci jumped to the side, her back now against one of the walls; she could hear them yell as the two separated. It was just a matter of time until one of them came in her general direction. His hair was shaved back in a messy manner, his blue eyes sparked with fear as he stumbled upon Maci. She was like a giant to him as she grabbed him by the shoulder and pinned him against the nearest wall, her energy blade activated and came whooshing up to his throat as the man pushed back against the wall helplessly, his own hands trembled so much he lost a grip on his pistol while making helpless gasping like sounds as if he couldn't breathe.

With a deep primal like Growl Maci leaned in towards the human. "Where is the other Sangheili?" She bitterly said pressing the blade closer to his skin so it hissed at the faint touch of it causing him to yelp.

 ** _"What?"_** Muttered the man in his native tongue seeming to understand Sangheili well enough to respond back while his eyes feverishly looking around _. "What do you mean?"_ He said again, he was petrified as Maci glared down at him.

Her own blue eyes burning into his soul as she drew her face in closer and bared her teeth even more at him. **_"Where is he!?"_** Was her final demand as she spoke in the human language known as English.

To her surprise the human muttered inaudible words before he finally spoke up. _"They took him to the Commander, in the inner city…the Sanctum…."_ The human said, his eyes where begging, his hands raised up above his head as if to say he was harmless while he pissed himself with fear.

Maci leaned back and nodded satisfied with this answer, but in all honesty she had lost any form of mercy as she slide her blade across his throat slowly. He gasped, gurgled, his body began to spasm to the strange sensation across his neck, but it was pathetic, blood poured from his new fresh cut as Maci walked away leaving the human to suffer in pain, his friend won't get to him in time, in fact Maci knew that she would hunt down the other human and end his life as well. It was time for some payback as Maci walked along the lines of the maze like rubble until she heard shuffling nearby. The other human male wasn't like his companion, this one was ready when he saw Maci, his gun aimed directly for his head, but there was no point as Maci tossed her blade finding its mark in the middle of his head, his eyes cross eyed before his body fell back, the grasp on his gun was so much that it triggered, the bullets raining up into the sky as Maci hissed kicking the gun back out of his hand and grabbing her energy blade pulling it from the humans corpse.

Exiting the rubble maze Maci looked out towards the City, it was about a mile away and too think she had travelled here with Ne last night so close and yet in the day it felt further away. At least the enemy was expecting her, but what they wouldn't be expecting was her attitude as Maci made a direct bee line towards the city in plain sight. If they had taken Voras without killing him to this so called Sanctum then it meant they wanted something or maybe to make a scene of something. However Maci could see that the tower was close to the centre of this city, it was leaning in on direction as if it would fall but for whatever reason it was Maci had a new determination. She wasn't going to be all stealthy; she wouldn't hide her fear or emotions, but rather show them.

It was like she was being called out as she jumped over a small gape in the ground that seemed to have been dug much like a trench. It took Maci about half an hour to enter the forsaken city, it was nothing more than falling and collapsing skyscraper buildings of both stone and metal, the sounds of creaking and rattle could be heard from the wind, plastic blew from above, toys, clothing and former items of any household or community littered almost every inch of this place as Maci maintained a steady walk. She turned and made her way towards the inner centre assuming that was where this sanctum was. However before doing so she scouted the area dropping off her sac of food and water in one of the nearby buildings. She'd come back for this later, but she couldn't and wouldn't risk running into a fight and losing all her resources as she took a sip from her cantina of water to quench her thirst knowing that may be the last time she does so.

After doing a few double backs throughout the forsaken area, Maci eventually headed towards the centre of the buildings, she wouldn't go near the radio tower just yet, she assumed it would be heavily guarded by now and more than likely this so called Commander would have been smart enough to have Maci followed. It was why she needed to be both cocky and straight forward and bold, she didn't want herself to be seen as too predictable. However as she came to the centre she noticed something drastically was wrong. The entire centre area was almost like a crater as Maci stopped to look in awe, it was all glassed, the vehicle Maci and Voras had seen on their first day of their mission was parked in one of the various buildings which told Maci that she had come to the right spot as she looked around.

Atop her eyes were caught by a moving figure, they were standing atop a falling building that gave off an almost mountain like look as they looked down at her. "Maci Durramee!" The voice called out, a thick strong sangheili accent echoed through the area as Maci snarled.

From behind this strange figure where two guards, sloppy looking Brutes and in their clenched hands was Voras weak and being dragged looking lifeless until they stopped. This caused a new sense of rage to fill Maci. "And I suppose you are the so called Commander?" She said folding her arms over her chest, her tone held a bitterness as she glared up.

The sunlight behind them made it almost blinding but Maci could clearly see they wore some white sort of a cape, their armour was that of a councillor that only confirmed her theory as Maci snorted. Maybe she was doing the right thing, maybe she was gaining more information but she was too direct as she clenched her fists and glared.

To her amaze the figure only stood silently which annoyed her as Maci decided to play a game of cat and mouse, she turned her body and made a direct bee line towards the truck. This got her what she wanted as the figure above yelled down to her. "Where do you think you are going?" His voice was stern, almost dark but Maci only stopped, a smirk spreading across her lips.

"Where ever the damn hell I want." She bitterly said, her eyes forming a new sinister look as she turned to look up at the figure before. "Now why don't you get off your throne and show some respect." Her tone was laced with danger, her hands clenched by her side as she watched, waited with anticipation.


	14. Obey Orders

**A/n:** Who else has been hanging out for this?

It's the second last chapter, I know, so I felt I needed to get this up, finish this fic off for once with a beautiful ending. This chapter is a bit short and I had done it a very long time ago and I feel it lacks a lot but I do hope that the final chapter will be far longer and far better then the rest all together and will come to a finale for this part in the series but fear not there will be another part to come.

* * *

 **Name: Maci Durramee**

 **Year: 2564 July**

 **Gender: Female**

 **Age:26**

 **Rank: Minor**

 **Location: Unknown Warzone, Sanghelios**

 **Obey Orders**

A strong gusty wind blew in from the south sending a small set of dust in the air dancing about almost like a smoke screen were as Maci stood strong, her blue eyes never moving from the figure that stood high above her. She couldn't see them due to the blinding sun behind them and now the dust that was beginning to set in, but either way Maci knew that no matter what way she went about this, it would end up with the same results as she snarled glaring up, her hands tightly gripping her hilts just waiting, her patience running thin as she took a step forward.

An eerie silence washed over this place, all but the faint sound of the wind hollowing through the forsaken buildings and tunnels. Maci was so close, so close to getting inside that truck, but she was pulled away from that, she knew that in a mission like this it's more about getting out alive and handing over information then risking your life for someone else. Yet Maci was doing just that. It would look too strange for her to return back to the Council without her accessor and to report the information she with holds would only raise even more brows. Gulping down her vibrant blue eyes remained on the figure above, her glare never dying, nor the anger that's brewing inside of her as she tried to steady her breathing.

With ease and little care the main leader, the Commander as he had been called simply dropped from the edge of the leaning tower as he landed on his feet without much hassle as he approached. Without the sun blinding her vision Maci could clearly see a resemblance between this Sangheili approaching her, and the former dead body of the Councillor. His eyes burned into Maci's with a similar determination as if to end her life with a single glance as his eyes flicked with a vibrant gold with orange at the corner of his eyes. Each step he took he took it with confidence as Maci braced for any form of attack spreading her legs to a fighting stance as she hunched herself over much like any sangheili warrior would do in battle. Yet she did not activate her blades. The clanging of his armour that of which was a golden Councillor's was nerve racking but what more could Maci do?

Stopping short of a few meters away the Male stood tall, his hands folding behind his back, his white long cape draping on the floor softly drifting with the passing breeze that came, his eyes focused on hers, the look he gave her was one of superiority. A look Maci had seen before as she tried hard not to remember any flash backs causing her to clench her jaw. His Councillor armour looked damaged with various marks all over it, but it had a fine polish look, Maci didn't understand, who was this sangheili and what was his motive are but one thing was for sure, Maci refused to go down without a fight.

With a huff like sound Maci noticed he was studying her, probably having calculated her thoughts as well. "You must be Durramee, the one Rio spoke heavily of. His reports said you where skilled in swordsmanship." The Male said nodding in the direction of her hands as they gripped tightly on the hilts even more so then before. "You'd make a fine warrior with the correct discipline." He said in a chilling voice that was too calm, too confident.

Shaking her head Maci snorted daring to take a step; she noticed the guards above still stood with Voras in hand as the mighty Warrior was forced to kneel awkwardly. They didn't have any weapons pressed to him but Maci didn't want to risk anything either, she knew this wasn't her turf or playing field and she was at the disadvantage. "I didn't come here to make small talk" She barked baring her teeth glaring as her eyes narrowed in on him showing her determination.

Surprisingly this male only took a step back, closing his eyes for a brief minute before laughing, it didn't sound right, and he had a strong voice, a voice filled with pure confidence and power and that made Maci more afraid as she gulped down watching her enemy, the leader of all of this before her laughing at her mere words. It was both infuriating and embarrassing, she could just cut off his head and get away with it, find the nearest beacon charging through enemy wave after wave like she had in her previous missions with those Forerunners knights, but this wasn't the case as Maci took in a deep breath and changed her stance letting her hilts magnetically attach to the side of her thigh armour as she stood up straight folding her arms over her chest as she snarled with great disapproval until the Male stopped laughing.

His humour faded fast when he noticed Maci new stance and attitude, almost causing his mandibles to curl up into a snarl. "It is your kind that had ruined Sanghelios" His words seemed playful as if he was toying with her as he smiled and stood relaxed yet covering his anger. "Sangheili of nobility, believing you have right over others, right to demand, right to lead. Right?" He leaned forward towards Maci, he was a towering giant and his behaviour only made her recoil.

Taking a step back she wasn't sure how to process any of this, everything was going over her head as she tried to take in deep breaths. "What do you mean?" She bitterly said the words as she grinded her teeth. "I may be of noble blood but it means nothing to me." Her tone was threatening, her face forcing wrinkles at the bridge of her nose as she snarled, rage clearly evident as well as the fear that was seeping through.

The male only took a step forward, and another, and then another until he was all too close to Maci. She felt like she was trapped as he straightened himself, extending a hand out towards her. "My dear this is exactly what I mean. Your family gives you pride, makes you think you can stand your ground, act stronger than others, but you are just covering your fear with your rage." He smiled a sinister smile before retracting his hand behind his back as if some Military Commander, a pose he must have practice to achieve what he has.

Those words echoed deep in her head as Maci took another step back, shuffling her feet hearing the faint echo of the glass beneath her feet. She was afraid because he was right and there was no point in trying to say or do anything. Looking up at Voras, her mighty accessor on his knees withheld by two brutes said too much as Maci looked down to the ground. If Voras had been captured and forced to kneel that what good was Maci? She was inexperienced with this sort of situation only allowing herself to be carried by her emotions.

"It is the fear that controls all of life and I..." The Male paused as he began to circle Maci. "I control that fear. Do you think that these species would just work together because they get paid? No it is fear, Fear of what is to come, Fear of what I can do to one that disobeys." He snorted as he brought one hand up to his chest clenching it into a fist as if to symbolize his own power before he stopped in front of Maci and looked at her with that smile on his, his eyes showed a soft caring side but it wasn't right, it was the look of a killer, someone that enjoyed taking pleasure inflicting pain upon others. "I can show you the truth. I can let you put aside your nobility, your fear, your anger and be free of those chains." He then looked over his shoulder and then back to Maci. "Or you can end up like him, your trainer. To be beaten and broken because you refused my offer." His voice held venom as he spoke his words, despite how calm they were.

Small rock, large rock, little pebble, tiny rock, tiny stone, shiny stone. Maci repeated in her head as she scanned the ground at her feet in an attempt to pay no attention to what was being said. The little pebbles in the sandy dirt ground the only form of hope she had from stopping his words that where threatening to break her down. Small Rock, Tiny rock, foot, toe, heel, armour. Her breathing was shaky, her eyes wide open with fear as sweat collected on her forehead beneath her helmet, she was afraid, and she was scared as she looked up at the male before her. Fear, Anger, Pain, Hatred. Emotions she was all too familiar with as she gazed into his eyes, they seemed welcoming, enticing but Maci looked away, she looked up over at Voras, into the blinding sun praying for something anything.

"He holds nothing on you." The male spoke again his voice echoing in her brain breaking Maci's train of thought that held her in place. "You have your own freedom. Make the choice, to be free or remain chained by those that create the rules. The Councillors." He leaned forward, too close, his eyes burning into Maci's while her hope, determination and everything holding her in place faded slowly away.

Conflicted and unsure Maci didn't know what to even do anymore; she was forced into this situation, unable to know what was right and wrong. If she denied the offer she would die and so would Voras, if she accepted she would live, but then something flooded her mind. The Image of Zuka flashed before her eyes, standing strong and tall wearing those rough looking pants and battle damaged thigh armour plates the first time she had met him in Varo. That very moment he knocked her to the ground and she glared up at him furious, his hand extended, a blush across his cheeks, his eyes holding so much to them, happiness and love that Maci didn't comprehend. Back to reality Maci looked away from the enemy before her glancing past his shoulder at nothing. The image of her daughter flashing before her eyes dancing and smiling happily. Her birth was never meant to be, but it was a blessing. Holding such a tiny little one in her arms, the way she made her first cry, the way she opened her little eyes, a spitting image of her father as her little hands reached up to touch Maci's mandibles in a playing manner.

Her daughter's eyes began to fade to one blue and one gold as the image of her son came before her. He was born cheeky and will probably live most of his life that way, his birth was expected but his unique features made him an odd one, it wasn't expected in sangheili genes for anyone to have two different coloured eyes, especially ones that stood out so much, but Xarious did and only added to his unique character. Gripping her hands tightly and shutting her eyes tightly Maci took in a deep breath, the image of her family before her burning into her head. She could never betray her family; she could never let anyone down as Maci drew in a deep breath, a new found determination burning within her. The male before her backed up, the look on his face was one of confusion with his mouth agape, curious as to what had just happened. Kicking out Maci almost made a perfect strike against her enemy to his chest, he was close enough but he seemed more skilled as he dodged stepping forward to the side only to close in on Maci. They stood shoulder to shoulder; Maci could feel the heat wave off him as she looked up amazed at his speed and calculation.

"I thought I might get through to you. So young, different from the others. I could really use your skills; you'd be an honoured warrior by my side. But I see…your kind can never change." His words were stoic, cold and emotionless just as much as Maci was.

Immediately Maci remembered the stab wound in the corpse they had found earlier, it didn't take a genius as Maci jumped to the side with all her force just in time to avoid the blade that activated near her side. It was more like an energy dagger that he held in his hand, concealed within her armour as his eyes filled with madness and rage seeing how Maci avoided him so easily. Connecting with the dirt ground Maci rolled to safety but not without a heavy thud and a huff before she got to her feet, a stining sensation could be felt near her lower back where the dagger had sizzled at her skin upon the slightest contact, purple blood oozing from such a small wound. With a grunt Maci activated her own dual blades and glared at the male, if he wanted to fight with blades then so be it.

Then from above a voice rang out that shut her down completely. "Don't!" Voras yelled as he struggled against his captors. "RUN! Get out of here!" Voras sounded weak, his voice husky and almost croaking out. The look on his face was desperate, pleading for her to run, but Maci couldn't, she wouldn't leave someone behind to be torn to pieces like a feral beast.

Turning over towards the male Maci predicted him to attack but instead he deactivated the energy blade and put the hilt on the side of his belt in clear view with his hands on his hips looking at her with a raised brow. "What will it be? Disobey a direct order or run like a coward?" Something about his words seemed twisted as Maci took in a sharp breath.

Turning her back to the enemy Maci knew the undoubtable result, the requirement, the order she needed to obey. To walk away and leave with what she has only to be hunted shortly after. She didn't want to, she wanted to fight but as she gazed up at Voras one last time looking over her shoulders she knew this was what he wanted, he wanted her to leave even if she felt like a coward, its what Voras was commanding her to do.

Gripping her hilts unconsciously and deactivating her blades as they slipped from her hands and back to her thigh armour, Maci began to ramble softly under her breath her head lowered towards the ground a ping of guilt in the pit of her stomach as she was forced to walk away like a coward, a walk of shame. "Obey Orders" It was but a mere faint whisper.

Again the words seeped from her lips, a little more louder. "Obey orders" Her own voice echoing in her head as she took her first step forward her face gazing downward as her helmet concealed the look on her blank eyes.

"Obey orders." The wind picked up in the distance, the howling sound it made almost sounded like a K'rousm nearby.

The words becoming clearer the more she said them. "Obey Orders." Taking her third step away from Voras seemed wrong. Walking away and leaving everyone behind, even turning her back to the enemy.

She gritted her teeth clenching her jaw "Obey Orders."

Her heart began to race her pupils forming slits. "Obey Orders." Her enemy did not attack, he just stood and watched slightly confused but more so curious.

She knew this was wrong but she couldn't help repeating herself. "Obey orders." The words more like a soft murmur but the anger was present.

Tears began to well in her eyes as some escaped trailing down her cheeks. "Obey orders." The words started to sound more and more angry.

With a final deep breath and a pause Maci finally yelled at the top of her lungs with pure rage as she glared up at the enemy, her eyes maddened by her conflicting emotions. "Obey Orders!" She took her final step trying to convince herself this was right, that the louder she yelled the easier it would be, but she was so wrong.

Her enemy stood, without wincing or moving as he merely watched and waited, how could Maci just walk away from someone that would have risked his own life to save hers? How could she just walk away from everything to go back feeling like she brought nothing but useless information and even more so shame to her family? How could she go back only to face the possible outcome of being put in prison again because she returned without her trainer, because she engaged in battle, because she was a failure…

Raising his hand in the air, the Commander watched as from all corners of the buildings and street ways where various species under his command all watching Maci, waiting for her to make a move, waiting for his command to go after her and begin the hunt. They looked hungry, malnourished and as they looked at Maci, it was like seeing a fine slab of steak to them. Some of them inched further, humans, Kig-yars, Grunt, Sangheili, Brutes, any and all species gathered, shuffling their feet closer, old UNSC guns in their hands, battled damaged rifles or shrapnel pieces of bars used as make-shift weapons. Their tongues flicking across their lips, their shallow lust filled eyes watching her so carefully, begging for her to do something.

In silence Maci stood, her mind blank, her anger and rage put aside as she raised one of her hands up to her energy blades grasping the hilt. She wouldn't go back empty handed, she wouldn't try to be the hero, but she would try to do the right thing as she took in a deep breath calming her nerves feeling her own hands tremble. He spoke of fear as if he controlled it by will, but Maci knew otherwise as she opened her eyes, she could see the rebels inching closer, the look in their eyes said it all as Maci raised her other hand. Both of her hearts bleed with an uncontrollable feeling, a primal instinct. Remembering her training Maci sprung on her feet to turn around to the Command, activating one blade in the process.

Her mandibles curled, her teeth bared, her pupils turned to slits. " You Know nothing of Fear!" Maci yelled.

Dropping his hand the enemies swarmed in on Maci just as she had predicted, Voras came back to it just to see his apprentice down below standing strong and brave and bloody foolish. She Should have run, she should have gotten away from here, but there she stood her eyes on the Prime leader, her eyes glowing with a Madness that he could only predict as being pure primal. She was out numbed, out gunned as Voras struggled trying to yell, but the last thing he saw before being knocked out was Maci standing still, her face contorted to something menacing before the enemies closed in on her with their grubby hands.

* * *

A/N: This chapter is also reflecting upon the high influence of Sangheili culture and tradition and how obeying an order means a lot to Sangheili warriors, to break an order could mean being labelled a criminal which Maci has had to endure beforehand, so this chapter in a way plays a very big role and an emotional reflect upon Maci as she begins to change.


	15. Grand Finale

**The Grand Finale**

A Shroud of darkness concealed Maci's vision as the enemies swarmed upon her like flies to fresh meat, their teeth bared, mouths dripping with saliva, eyes lost in madness and deprived off all their natural instincts becoming savage creatures, now a mere shell of what they once were. Their horrible scents of death, dirt and blood filled her nostrils as Maci stood still unswerving her sword still extended unmoving as she felt the bodies hit against her while she began to crumble to the ground her eyes flicking up to Voras for one last moment, he was fighting trying to get free but it was useless as Maci gave one faint smirk before her legs gave in to the animals tearing at her, bitting into her skin as they made horrible grotesque sounds. All species, all kinds from each corner of the universe biting into her armour and slamming their fists and weapons into her without mercy or relent with no intent on stopping until their bellies were full. What a lucky bastard he had won…

From the sidelines their leader watched with an amused looking upon his face, the corner of his mandibles curling up ever so slightly watching his feverishly hungry and deranged soldiers take down a fully grown and possibly trained sangheili warrior swarming upon her and crawling upon her until she was no longer in sight. She was not the first, Maci Durramee the one Rio had spoken so highly of, and she would not be the last but she most definitely left a mark in his heart. It was clear this one didn't want to walk away like a coward and instead of joining him she turned and encouraged death to sweep her away. An act he had only heard about in stories of suicide and desperate attempts but never seen it before. Those vibrant blue eyes he would not forget as he slowly turned and gazed up to the feeble idiot trying to struggle against his brute body guards.

Her accessory, The Leader reminded himself as he smirked even more seeing the pathetic life struggle, he was pleased with this result, this beautiful display of an honour noble warrior willing to die on the battlefield then return an idiot. To be honest he had expected this, expected her to die here then return. It wasn't the way of a noble, something he truly hated as he drew in a deep breath of the dirt air surrounding him, his hearts beating with a flourished ecstatic sensation, like a predator in the moment of killing. Even though it may not be his teeth sinking into the noble female's throat, it definitely felt like it. The single movement of his hand, the power he held over so many other pathetic lifeforms, he exhaled closing his eyes so utterly pleased with this outcome, the screaming accessor above and the hungry sounds of his minions doing his dirty work. What more could he ask for? This sensation of divine power he held within his hands.

Stripped away all too fast as he gasped, a bright flash came before him as he clutched his left thigh leg falling down to the ground, mouth agape so confused, his eyes landing on a metal bar embedded in his thigh, it had cracked through his armour as the male looked in shock, the blood spurting from the new wound. How could he have gone so wrong? His eyes glared up, it was her, those vibrant bright blue eyes glaring deep into his soul with pure rage and revenge. Wasn't she meant to be dead? Maci's armour was cracked, damaged and dented as she rose to her feet, blood oozed from several marks, her skinsuit torn in parts from knife like weapons, but there she stood her body fuelled by rage and adrenalin. Fear…He said that was what he used to control them and so would Maci. Scampering away from her, the rebels scattered away as Maci held in her bare hands a sangheili, his neck snapped in a horrible jagged and unnatural way in her small hands as she dropped him the larger male rebel as he fell with a loud thud, his body lifeless only the faint twitch from his toe could be seen as any form of former life seeping away.

"Make an example of them…Make them fear you, that's what you do right?" Maci snarled as she spoke her words with a cold tone, one that held a faint hint of anger.

Although her body ached from every inflicted wound, it was well worth it. Maci had counted on this, it was her only way to succeed, to lure in someone that was a top dog in this mad Sangheili's ranks and kill them causing all the weaker ones to scatter away. Yet Maci didn't think all of them would as she now stood surrounded by no one, the Commander standing shocked, gasping for air as he panted, his hands trembling over his new wound as now Maci wasn't at a disadvantage. Behind those horrible eyes of his there was a story to be told but one Maci would never truly know as she hissed taking a step forward activating only one of her blades. Her enemy doing the same, he limped on his left leg where she had managed to toss the rebar into with great force, but he wasn't going down without a fight.

With a bitter hiss the Male glared daggers into Maci's eyes as he snorted. "You know nothing!"

Whatever strength he had left he used to charge at Maci, her right leg was sore as hell, her knee was in pain from being twisted and she was sure her ankle was sprained but Maci did her best to charge back with as much strength as she could as the two collided grunting and hissing in pain upon the impact, the sound of their swords connecting screeching out in the desolate city of death as blue sparked ignited, the glassfield beneath their feet cracked with their weight as the two struggled against each other's hold.

"I was born to rule!" The male hissed, tears evident in his glazed eyes as he fumed. "But I was born a twin! They tossed me aside because of Tradition! So I made it my goal to destroy them and everything they held DEAR!" With as much force as he could the male bared his teeth and attempted to strike numerously at Maci like a mad animal knocking her back.

Maci found it hard to parry as she shuffled her feet back carefully, her strength was nothing like his own, his force was stronger than her own and he eventually knocked the energy blade from her hand forcing Maci to use her other. Pushing her back more and more Maci wished she could kick, to spin around and slash his throat, but he was in a pure blind rage and Maci was forced to back up, each parry he managed to knock back with superior strength compared to hers so much she was worried she would lose her hilt again as she gasped in utter fear. With another swing of his blade he managed to connect his sword with Maci's hilt skimming the blade along her outside left hand cutting off the end of the hilt as well as her thumb.

Screaming in pain Maci stumbled back grasping her wounded hand as purple blood spirted out, but the male didn't stop there, he kept coming and coming, swinging his sword madly around, back and forth as Maci stumbled back finding her strength was seeping away from her, the pain too much to handle. Cutting down across her chest and up her chest, down the side of her arm he continued to lash out without focusing on truly killing her, just slashing like a mad male. Parts of her armour began to crack and fall off falling to the ground in pieces, blood spurted out from her fresh wounds but thankfully nothing too life threatening just yet as Maci stumbled backwards swaying side to side losing her footing. It was all she could do, she was too injured to fight back and even more so now she had lost the thumb on her left hand and her mind so unfocused by the pain. Trapped like a pest Maci looked up glaring into the males eyes as she hit the ground feeling her back against the cold ground, she had one last trick up her sleeve as she watched him bring the sword down like a hammer.

Softly Maci whispered knowing the inevitable fate "I know the pain!" Maci hissed watching the blue energy blade come down towards her face. With one quick move she rolled to the side, the blade connecting into her right shoulder and into her bone as she wailed in pain that waved over her causing her body to tremble, but it was more than enough as Maci heard the loud crack of the glassfield beneath her knowing that her pain, her sacrifice would be all she needed to win the battle.

Tears filled her eyes looking up at Voras, he was free and rushing to her aid as best as he could with a limp, the brutes must have fled, but he was far away from the glassfield as Maci smiled. At least he could get the message back safely, to inform every one of the destruction on its way as Maci hissed in pain while tears welled in her eyes as they poured down her cheeks, her batted and bruised body shacking as she knew this was the end, her armour no longer able to function as a form of protection, her skinsuit too damaged to heal her or even give her any form of relief from the pain.

From behind her the Enemy yelled out at the top of his lungs "What have you done!?" The male stumbled back looking at the ground as the spiralling white etched groaned, the land beneath his feel shifting. "You…You are willing to sacrifice yourself just to kill me?" He laughed madly probably coming to terms with his own death as well. "You can kill me but what is to come cannot be stopped. YOU HAVE FAILED!" He yelled with one final breath before a loud thunderous crack echoed around them.

In her ear drum she heard the crack sound of the glassfield beneath her, it sounded so peaceful in a strange way, the long white etching stretching further out. Maci was pinned, the sword had caused a rift in the glassfield and she was unable to move or escape. Voras was calling her name as she closed her eyes and smiled, the images of everyone flashing before her. Sko, Truun, Duran, Zuka, Her children, their future, Durram flourishing into a humble state, Vorumee, The Arbiter. They had all brought her this far as Maci felt her flesh around the energy sword tear, purple blood spurted out, her arm still connected but only by a small part of her muscle and bone as her body began to fall into the eerie darkness of the glassfield below.

All around her everything shattered, shards piecing through her body as Maci tried her best not to gasp or scream only allowing her tears to continue, gritting her teeth and holding herself with. It was a beautiful death she thought not opening her eyes, just allowing the sound of her enemy fall to his death while he screamed before being impaled on a large spiked piece of glass. Maci's body hit an edge of the glass causing her to cough as blood flew from her mouth to the sensation of her ribs being broken. Spiralling down into the horror her body hit another edge, sliced against the tip of a spiked piece of shard before she landed with a harsh thud feeling thousands of feet under the land of light and life. Down here it was cold, it was dark, Maci didn't dare to open her eyes as she shivered without control, her life was slipping away, her body was beginning to spasm as she could no longer feel her own legs.

In the distance a voice was calling to her, she couldn't tell if it was Voras or just her imagination, it didn't sound like a male or female, it didn't sound like anything sangheili really, just a blur in the darkness that took over her mind. She didn't even feel the aching pain in her left hand from her thumb, her mind wasn't able to focus on anything anymore, it was all fading away so quickly she barely had time to bring the image of Zuka in her head, or her Father and Mother before she felt her body go limp and everything faded into nothing while one final breath escaped from her mandibles that wheezed out in a horrible sounding way.

 **4 Years ago**

"I can't allow this!" A male barked as he had received news of being forced into the military. The day was a dark brown as dust was rolling in with an incoming storm, no light from the sun to even glimmer down upon his darken brown skin. He'd been cast out into the wild, unwanted by his own father and mother because he was born a twin and living in a small town as a farmer. Didn't the Covenant see anymore? Why must he be forced to fight? Deprived of a normal life like…like his brother? No one even knew his true name, not even he knew his own family name and that was because of Sangheili tradition, stripped of everything, desensitized from any love or care he was entitled to.

"Trio?" A soft frail voice called out as the male turned around, his yellow eyes encircled by orange scanned over to the elderly female that approached him with a briskly walk for her age. "You should go, you will be a proud warrior look at your muscles" His adoptive mother taunted in a playful way as she smiled looking up at him even though she was blind.

Trio smiled at his Mother, he didn't care for her name or why she had taken him in, he'd never questioned her about it, he just knew he was a pest to the traditions of Sangheili, cast out to be nothing but a raider filled with little hope. "No Mumma…If I leave you and the others will have no one to defend you." Trio said motioning towards the others in the village.

Everyone here were old farmers, too old to defend themselves and they always depended upon Trio for help. For everyone that was living in the village where veterans of war that had also been cast out in this harsh war torn land. Most of them had a limb missing or a permanent limp from the war, a missing heart or eye, things that labelled them as weak and useless to the Covenant Militia. Trio saw them as people that the Covenant no longer cared for, but also the harsh reality of tradition and so called Honor. It made him angry as he gripped the hologram message crushing it before a frail small hand clasped over his giant hand.

"Please dear…we are all doomed here, you have so much potential, so much to live for my boy" His Mumma cooed placing her other hand on his jaw. She'd always cared for him despite her dirty rags she called clothes or her blind cloudy eyes. She could not see with those eyes as she had been gassed in a village long ago rendering her blind, and yet she always saw the good in others.

She would hate him for what he fantasied about every moment of the day, killing his own twin and taking his place would be so easy, he was obsessed with power, making a difference as he sighed putting a larger hand over his Mummas. "I could never leave you here. My purpose is to protect you all" He smiled even though she may not see it, he felt it in his heart that was what he should do.

Before she or Trio could say anything the thunderous applause of tanks could be heard coming as the ground shook and phantoms soared above their heads. Trio had feared this day would come, the warzone was becoming larger, and the turmoil between families, the states Kaiden and Nobles had become clear with the dispute between the arbiter and those that followed the old rules of the Covenant and Prophets. All for what? Honour? There was not enough time before the small town was caught in cross fire as plasma began to fly around, they had nowhere to go, their mud hut houses not enough to protect them. In his hands his Mumma fell as he caught her, cradling her lifeless form as he looked down while purple liquid was spewing from her mouth and a large wound where her hearts should be with faint glow from plasma came from her scorched flesh.

Above him Plasma rained down from phantoms, it wasn't just a war zone but a killing field as he gritted his teeth, the others tried to escape but they were too weak, too pathetic. The only sangheili that had kept him alive, had kept the good part of him alive was now gone and now he felt the anger rise inside of him as he screeched the pain he felt in his chest tightening his hold on the lifeless body of his Mumma. This pain he could only blame upon Sangheili tradition, the Nobles fighting for power that resulted in the loss of his Mumma, it was their entire fault. Getting to his feet Trio knew he could no longer hold his desires at bay as smoke filled his nostrils, plasma fired all around him he was lucky to even be alive. Purple deranged his dark brown skin and tan rags of clothing as he huffed and puffed, his veins flowing with pure rage. Screams screeched all around him as he watched a tank roll up in his direction. This was his way to achieve his goal, his desires and dreams and he would do so as he picked up the nearest pistol he could find.

In Sangheili tradition he will be named a survivor, a hero, he knew he would make his way up to the Citadel of Vadam, find his twin and claim what he should have been given rather then that weak link. Maybe he would even keep his Twins Body and return it here to this forsaken killing field, show him what horrors he had caused. This was all his twins fault, everything was his fault. Trio was destined for greatness he knew that now as he climbed aboard the tank killing its occupants without mercy, beating in their skull until shards of bone splattered out and his brain became mush that felt so good between his fingers. It felt like power, like an unsatisfied hunger and he saw the fear in that warriors eyes, fear he knew he will use as he licked his bloody finger tips relishing in the moment of what he believed to be pure bliss. "Sanghelios will fall…"

 **Present.**

Pain, pain etched everywhere, stretching from her sides, her face, all of her limbs as Maci groaned fluttering her eyes open. Her mouth felt dry as she squinted beneath blinding white lights, the smell of sterile chemicals filled her nostrils, her right arm felt strange as Maci turned to see the arm had been confined in a thick cast from her hand all the way up towards her collarbone making it hard to move her neck around too much. By her side Maci saw Zuka and her Children, her daughter was crying uncontrollably as she threw herself onto her Mother. Maci only chuckled and winced slightly as she wrapped her free arm around her daughter having noticed her hand was also cased in a cast as well probably for her thumb. Zuka planted a kiss on her forehead as he hummed, tears trailing down his face. Even her own Son was there as he tried to contain himself from jumping onto his Mother, instead he crawled up around her neck wrapping his arms around her and holding her tightly.

"I'ma not let you go Mumma!" Her son squealed softly as he cried.

"Me too!" Her daughter wailed with tears in her eyes.

"Me Three" Zuka said in a croaky voice having clearly been crying for days.

Maci felt hot tears trail down her face, she didn't know what was going on, how she had even managed to survive as she was overcome by so many emotions all at once, but she was so happy to be here with her family, which was all that mattered as she held them as tightly as she could. However in the distance someone cleared their throat, Zuka stood back, Maci could see how dark and baggy his eyes where. He had not slept in days clearly as he pulled their crying young's from Maci whispering to them that everything will be ok.

"Go now I will see you soon." Maci said in a faint weak voice while she smiled as Zuka escorted himself and their young out before giving Maci one faint smile exiting the room.

Looking up at the doorway Maci saw her uncle, Raga, though he looked strangely different wearing chrome white Armour identical to her own. He stood strong, hands folded behind his back and chest puffed out as he waited for everyone to leave before stepping forward his gaze lowered causing Maci to wonder just how bad she looked right now. She was in an isolated room with a wide window view of the City of Vadam. She had so many questions as she looked around, the room was nothing but white tiles, an IV drip by her side and a data pad as well as a large hologram screen displaying her vital signs and health status. Looking back to her Uncle Maci begged for answers but she waited for him to look up at her first.

A faint smirk on his lips as he approached, but slowly and carefully. "I guess you have a lot of questions right? Like always" He seemed to softly joke before looking away from her as his smirk disappeared, he looked sad and Maci wondered what had happened, why was he here and wearing Durram armour? Wasn't he classed a criminal still?

Maci strained to speak up but he cut her off as he raised a hand gently to pause her looking at her with those dark blue eyes of his. "Don't speak, you need to recover first" He said moving off and pouring her some water into a cup as he sat it on a nearby stand with a straw and he set her bed up so she could easily sip at the drink. "You have been in a Coma for a week now…You're wounds are slowly healing but not to the doctors liking" His voice trailed off as he looked away from Maci while she took slow sips of water.

"A rescue team found you at the sight with your Accessor. He mentioned you had fallen down into the glassfield and had sever broken ribs, collar bone, you had lost your thumb, bite marks and lacerations lined your body from head to toe, had a rib even protruding from your side, your left shin bone had been snapped in half and…" Raga stopped, she knew that look in her uncles eyes, that he had said enough and didn't want to go on anymore as his shoulders seemed to slack in a bit. "I was first to be contacted, it seems Zuka had done so without my knowing. When they rushed you in here they told me everything. You're mission was a failure, you had been ambushed and the only data recovered worth something to the Arbiter was a mad starve ridden refugees located in a former warzone." Raga took in a deep breath and seemed to sigh slightly under his breath.

Maci knew the story was a lie, but why? Did Raga know the truth? "I do…" Raga stated having already second guessed Maci. "Voras I believe was his name, informed me, told me to tell you the story, to keep you out of harm's way. I may not know the full truth but he did give me this." Raga passed a small hologram to Maci as she looked at it when he activated it.

"That's the device…What they were using to glass a field length of an area. Like a bomb compared to what real damage a fully powered laser on a ship could do." Maci stated admiring the circular platform looking device. It was rounded with a round edge and a large centre where the beam would probably power up before dispersing outwards. Compared to what are on warships, the device must have been light, portable to be mobile and could be used more than once but obviously its affects where limited to a ranged area.

Raga seemed to nod in agreement before closing the device. "However it's flawed, Zuka looked over it, we think we can perfect it far better…Voras didn't want the enemy to get their hands on this, he didn't even want the council or the Arbiter to know either. In fact he said something about you, something along the lines of being a brave warrior" Raga stated tucking the hologram away for safe keeping.

Maci looked up at him a little stunned. "You mean they don't know about anything? How can we even use a device like this it'll-" Raga cut her off because she could finish.

"As a front projectile on a Warship." He stated with a smile on his lips. "The ship will take years to build, to perfect but my dear Niece by that time you will be a Commander. We have faith in you. For now rest assure." Raga straightened himself and turned but he paused looking over his shoulder. "Before I go though, Voras said that an unnamed Spartan helped, he was the first to arrive but fled before the Sangheili rescue team arrived. He took all the information from Voras minus the device plans." Raga said boldly before leaving.

"A Spartan?" Maci questioned softly to herself as Raga left. Unsc clean up perhaps? Gulping down her fears and questions Maci relaxed back into her hospital bed looking out at the passing traffic and the sunset in the distance. If the council didn't know anything about the device then there was a large chance the device at the sight must have been destroyed or hidden for the greater good. A weapon such as that would have only caused more issues as the female warrior sank into her mattress. Those living in that warzone would someday move on, let nature take its course and regrow before being rebuilt upon. However one thing worried Maci the most, she remembered the enemy saying something was coming. She looked up towards the sky of the fading sun, whatever it was; it was enough to make someone become so deranged believing in themselves so much just like Jagoree.

Closing her eyes Maci let her head rest against the pillow as she drew in a deep long breath and relaxed, she will think on it latter but for now she would allow her dreams to flourish, build strength and when she got out of here she would train harder than ever before and rise up to her dreams, to become a strong leader and make a difference.

For Maci's life had changed drastically, she could no longer rely on luck, hope or anyone truly, she knew the lies and betrayal harshly but she had learned to trust, to work as a team and do the unthinkable and defy the odds. Voras covered for her for an unknown reason, perhaps the council judged her harshly, maybe they thought she was not ready but Voras saw something in Maci that she herself did not understand, but truly she thanked him for that. Someday she will make both Voras and Vorumee proud; she will rise above the odds as a female warrior and make a name for herself and her family. She will lead those from darkness to light and she will do it all in the name of justice.

20 Years in the future.

A blue light illuminated the Ships Bridge as it beeped; a vast galaxy of space and stars could be seen before a large planet covered in snow, lifeless of any forms of true life created by nature. Pressing her hand against the terminal an older Maci clad in Supreme Commander Armour in a similar style to her former blue Durram armour, drew in a long deep breath puffing out her chest and glaring towards the planet.

"Fire at will" She said in a stoic voice as the warship kicked back, a loud humming sound shrieked through the ship before a large beam flicked out in front of the ship as it shot out a long stream of plasma glassing the planet's surface below.

In the background the warriors chanted in unison and pride, thrusting their arms in the air.

"Fear the Commander, As She is Battle Ready! Fear the Commander, For Blood and Glory is Her Shield!"


	16. Notes

**NOTES**

The Wait is now over, this part of the series has come to an end and I wish to thank you all for being so utterly patient with me from the start to the very end. I hope that giving the unnamed Enemy, Trio, a look back at to how he became who he is was enough to explain his sadistic nature.

I also hope that the look into the future at an older 40 year old Maci will get you all pumped for the Final installment in the series which is Part 4: Fear the Commander. This will be published mid next year so keep your eyes out for it to come.

Now during that time I will also be finishing off Cobra's story, A Far cry 3 fanfic and also an Outlast Fanfic will be shortly published.

However for now, thank you all for the wonderful reviews you have all given towards this particular fanfic and my Oc Maci Durramee.


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